


the boys of summer

by realityrewind



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Romance, Slow Burn, they work at a fireworks store
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-07-10 09:05:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6976816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityrewind/pseuds/realityrewind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander needs a summer job to help pay for college. After being rejected by all the law offices in the area, he resigns himself to working at the nearest fireworks store. But little does he know, he's about to meet a boy who will change his life. (previously titled 'look into your eyes and the skies the limit')</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. you walked in and my heart went 'Boom!'

Alexander sat in his car for what seemed like hours, watching the clock on his dashboard tick the minutes by. He actually had been sitting in the parking lot of Blue Bellies Fireworks for only ten minutes, arguing with himself about whether to go in or not. He did need a job, but a fireworks store? He wasn’t sure. He had wanted to work somewhere that would help with his law career, but every place he checked, no one was willing to hire a 19-year-old immigrant college student. That left him in his current situation. With one last look at the clock, swung the door open and stepped out into the early summer air. 

The outside of Blue Bellies Fireworks was white with red trim around the doors, the name in big blue lettering on the middle of the building. A large pole was attached to the right side of the store, with the American flag fluttering slightly in the breeze. Flyers proclaiming new deals and sales the store had going on were taped to the windows, as well as a large sign stating ‘No smoking within 50 feet of the building’. Alexander paused at the door, sighed determinedly, and stepped in. The interior of the building was larger than he had expected, with 6 aisles of products, 5 cashier stations, and what looked to be a sign-in desk directly in front of him. Bells twinkled, notifying the staff that a customer had just walked it. 

A deadpan voice greeted him, “Hello, welcome to Blue Bellies Fireworks, where our prices are revolutionarily good”. The man who had spoken was short, with a black undercut and a permanent scowl on his face. Alexander walked closer to the desk where the man currently was sitting. With all the confidence he could muster, he pulled himself upright and started to say, 

“Hello sir. I would li-“ 

“Yo, Chuck! Let me handle this one!” Alexander stared dumbfounded at the boy who had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to interrupt him. He stood a few feet in front of him, hands on his hips. He was of average height, with a broad chest and a slender waist. His light brown skin was dusted with freckles, and he had long, curly hair tied back from his face. He was wearing what Alexander assumed to be the uniform; a blue tee-shirt with tan cargo shorts. The boy tossed him a wink that made Alexander weak in the knees before turning to the other man. 

“I told you not to call me that! You know it’s not my name!” the man spat angrily. He looked like he wanted to kill the teen, and Alexander worried for a moment that a fight may ensue. The boy then went around Alexander, grabbed him by the shoulders, and steered him toward the showroom. 

“Whatever you say, Chuck!” he called over his shoulder. Once they were safely out of sight, the curly-haired boy let go of Alexander. He found himself missing the physical contact; the warmth from the other’s hands. “Sorry about that,” he said apologetically. “But you don’t want to deal with Lee. Trust me.” He leaned in close to Alexander, his hand at the side of his mouth. “He’s kind of an asshole.” He whispers, his eyes twinkling and a grin tugging at his lips. 

_Oh shit, he’s really cute._ Alex thought to himself while trying to focus on anything other than the boy’s lips, or the freckles sprinkled all over his face. They looked in each other’s eyes for a few seconds too long, then the employee straightened his back and cleared his throat. 

“So what can I help you with today? Are you looking for anything in particular? We have it all! Sparklers, fountains, firecrackers…” he started naming off products on his fingers. 

“Ahh, no no.” Alexander cut in sheepishly, hand a bit outstretched, as if he planned on stopping him physically. The boy gave him a quizzical look, his curly hair bouncing slightly in its ponytail as he cocked his head. “I’m actually looking for a job. Are you guys hiring?” his hazel eyes grew larger, then he shot him a toothy grin. 

“Oh, thank fuck! It is way too early for me to deal with customers!” he blurted out while throwing his hands in the air. He turned on his heel and gestured for Alexander to follow him. Alexander stood there, staring dumbly at the boy for a second, confused by his strange reaction. He shook his head lightly and quickly caught up with him. 

“You know it’s like, 12:30 in the afternoon, right?” Alexander informed the boy with a chuckle. 

The freckled boy glanced sideways at him, and replies “Exactly. Too early.” in a solemn voice, though the small smile he gave him would suggest otherwise. He lead Alexander to a door that stated ‘Managers Only’ in broad lettering. He then knocked with three quick raps of his fist. 

“If it’s too early, why did you offer to help…” but Alexander didn’t get to finish his question, because the knob started turning, then the door opened, then a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out before them. 

“Yes, John?” the man asked. 

_John. His name is john._ He noted this silently, whispering it in his head like a prayer. 

“Hi, Mr. Washington. This is…uhh…” The boy –no- John, trailed off, turning his gaze back to him. 

“Alexander.” He finished for him. “Alexander Hamilton, sir. It’s nice to meet you.” He held his right hand out, and Washington looked him up and down before taking it. They shook twice before letting go. 

“What can I do for you, son?” Alexander prickled with irritation at being called ‘son’, but tried not to show it. 

“Well sir, I was hoping you could give me a job.” He looked directly into Washington’s eyes, determined not to let the anxiety growing in his stomach overtake him. 

“Come into my office, Alexander. John, you head back to the showroom. See if there are customers that may need assistance.” Washington retreated back inside, and Alexander followed. 

_He’s letting me inside! That means I have a chance. I am not throwing away my shot at this job._ Alexander looked back at John as he did a salute in Washington’s direction. 

“No problem, boss! See ya later, Alexander!” he shot him another wink and a thumbs up before closing the door. Alexander’s heart thumped against his chest. He wasn’t sure if it was from being alone with his possible future boss, or from John’s encouragement. 

_Focus Alexander. Don’t mess this up_

. . . . 

John mostly spent the next fifteen minutes hidden between the aisles, trying to avoid Lee’s death glare. He also helped the one customer that happened to wonder in. Thankfully, she was just a young mother looking for snaps for her children, and not some tough guy wanting to build a big show. This early in the season, customers are few and far between, not that John was complaining. He was good at his job, sure, but dealing with people wanting to buy dangerous explosives can be exhausting. After helping the woman, John went back into the warehouse and laid down on the pile of broken down boxes, which is actually quite comfortable. He and his friends were notorious for taking naps on it during their breaks. John’s thoughts shifted from his friends to the boy he had recently met. 

_Alexander. His name is Alexander._ John went over seeing Alexander enter the store over and over in his head. He looked nervous, running his hands through his shoulder-length hair absentmindedly as he took the store in. He had lighter skin, but was obviously latino, like himself. The bags under his eyes told a story of a tired man, yet the determined look he wore had showed the youthful energy within him. When he had first met his eyes, John knew he didn’t stand a chance. He was helpless. A warm feeling flooded his body, and before he knew it, he had grabbed the boy. He didn’t really know why, but his immediate attraction to him felt like fate. Like destiny. 

“God, I don’t even know the kid. I’m being ridiculous. It will be a miracle if he’ll even want to be friends with me.” He said, thinking out loud. No one else was in the warehouse, so he wasn’t worried about being overheard. He laid there for a few more minutes, trying not to think about Alexander’s eyes, Alexander’s hair, Alexander’s lips…”Let’s not go there, Laurens!” chastising himself. He decided right then and there he was not going to annoy Alexander with his weird and sudden crush. He was going to do his best to hide his feelings for the sake of their budding friendship. John then shot up and left the warehouse. He was wondering up the roman candle aisle when he heard Alexander’s voice coming from the front of the store. He jogged up the aisle, then sneakily hid behind one of the displays, peeking out just enough to see Alexander and Washington having a conversation. 

“Thank you, sir! I won’t let you down, I promise!” Alexander exclaimed excitedly. John noticed that he talked with his hands, and found it incredibly endearing. He smiled smugly. He knew Alexander would get the job. Washington is a big softie under all that intimidation, and would probably hire anyone. Not that he thought Alexander was just anyone. 

“John, come out from there so you can show our newest employee around.” Washington said with a hint of amusement. Surprised he had been spotted, John moved too fast, missed his step, and stumbled out. He caught himself before he actually fell, but the damage was done. He hesitantly looked up, smiling through his embarrassment. Then he saw Alexander. Alexander was _laughing_ at him and it made John’s entire world stop. His face was scrunched up, his giggles like music in the air. He seemed to be able to hold himself together long enough to say, 

“Are you okay?” laughter still apparent in the question. 

_Oh, shit. He’s really cute._ John tried desperately to control his pounding heart. 

“I’m fucking fantastic, thanks for asking, _Alexander._ ” Sarcasm oozed from his words, and he hoped it was enough to cover the slight tremor in his voice. John made his way over to Alexander’s side, linking their arms together. This close to him, John could smell a hint of cologne radiating from the boy. John found the smell intoxicating, and found himself wishing he could be this close to Alexander all the time. 

_Really not the time for this, Laurens._

He found the strength to pull his eyes away from Alexander’s to look back up at his boss. “Don’t worry Mr. Washington. By the time I’m through, Alexander here will know the store inside and out!” John proceeded to pull his co-worker to the other side of the store, where aisle one started. He then let the other boy’s arm go, instantly missing the contact. “So what position did G-Wash give you?” he inquired, peering at the dark-haired boy. 

“Oh, he said I’d be doing a bit of everything, mainly working the register.” He replied, distracted with analyzing the products in front of him. Suddenly his head whipped around, his face scrunched again, this time out of confusion. “G-Wash?” 

_He has got to stop doing that with his face. My poor gay heart can’t take it._

John felt a wave of affection wash over him. He had just met this boy, yet he’s becoming attached faster than he ever had before. “It’s just a nickname some of us use for him. I wouldn’t use it in front of him though, not sure how much he would like it.” he informed him. “Anyway, since you’ll be doing a bit of everything, you’ll need to know where all the products are located.” He led Alexander through each of the aisles, pointing out where each of the different kinds of fireworks belonged. Alexander was uncharacteristically quiet, but John assumed it was because he was taking in his surroundings. 

“Aaaand this is where all the assortments can be found. Did you get all that?” 

“Uhh, I think so? If I’m being honest with you, I don’t really know anything about fireworks.” Alexander offered timidly. 

“Don’t worry about it. When I first started working here, I didn’t know anything either. You’ll get it down, trust me.” John said as he led him back to the front of the store. 

“Alright, well. I guess I’ll go now. I technically don’t start working until tomorrow.” Alexander glanced towards the doors. “Are you gonna be here?” he asked, turning back to John. 

“Yep! What are your hours?” 

“9 to 3.” 

“Same as mine. Probably so I can train you on the register.” After a few beats of silence, John hits his open palm with his fist, then points to his coworker. “Hey, did you get your shirts?” Alexander shook his head, and John nodded once. “Alright, I’ll grab you some. What size do you wear?” 

“Medium, I think.” 

“Two medium shirts, coming right up!” John called as he opened the door next to the managers’ office. He flicked a switch, then walked into the hallway. The sound of another door opening, then rustling, came from the hallway. John was humming softly, which was cut off with a sudden “Aha!” He walked out with two neatly folded blue shirts in his hands. He patted them twice, then held them out for the other boy to take them. Alexander took them gingerly, touching John’s hands for a second too long. A small smile touched his lips, fidgeting with the shirts now in his own hands. 

“Well, my dear John, I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning.” Alexander noted as he made his way to the doors. Just as he was pushing them open, John leaned against what was next to him, a cart, and he stumbled slightly as it started rolling from his weight. 

“I, uh, yeah. Tomorrow. I’ll see you then!” he stuttered after him. Alexander chuckled and waved. John watched him walk to his car and drive away. 

_‘My dear John’, huh? God, I already got it bad._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends!! i hope you liked this, i know it was short, but it was mostly here for introducing some of the characters and the store. this is also my first fic, so please be patient with me. leave me kudos if i should continue with this or not. a huge thank you to my wonderful friends katie and emily for being my editors!! i love you two  
> you can find me at realityrewind.tumblr.com ! come yell with me about hamilton 
> 
> i also should say that this work was really inspired by many different stories, with some references to the fic sons of libertea (which is really really good and you should read it!! http://archiveofourown.org/works/6052915/chapters/13876744


	2. the revolutionary set

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander's first day of work! He meets some of his coworkers, and thinks about how soft John's hair looks.

“I’m gonna tear this dude apart,” Alexander muttered as he glared at his twitter feed, his small frame still curled under his blankets. Seabury from his intro to Political Science class last semester was spouting complete nonsense, and Alexander wasn’t about to let it slide.  After about thirty tweets that completely demolished any semblance of an argument Seabury _thought_ he had, Alexander sat up and stretched away his early morning grogginess. He glanced back at his phone to check the time, something that went completely ignored after seeing Seabury’s opinion on immigration.

_7:32. It takes about twenty minutes to get to Blue Bellies, so I should leave around 8:35ish._

He rolled out of bed and grabbed his work shirt and black jeans. It wasn’t supposed to be that warm, so Alexander figured jeans would be fine. He tiptoed to the bathroom at the end of the hallway, careful not to wake his roommates. He knew they both worked late, so he didn’t want to be the reason they only got a few hours of sleep.

Once he was in the bathroom, he took care to look as presentable as possible, wanting to appear his best for his first day on the job. After he washed his face, he cleaned up his signature stubble, then looked his reflection up and down. He looked tired; the circles under his eyes made him look sleep deprived (which, in his defense, was true. He suffered from bouts of insomnia), but his eyes themselves were clear, ready to face whatever came his way. He debated on what to do with his hair for a few moments before putting it in a bun at the back of his head. He nodded at himself once in the mirror, then shut the light off and made his way back to his room. 

Alexander picked up his keys from his nightstand, as well as his pocket-sized composition notebook, and a pen. Mr. Washington had warned him that this early in the season, there would be large breaks when no customers would come in, and there might not be much for him to do. Alexander thought that he could fit some writing in those breaks. He stuffed the notebook in his back pocket, and put the pen behind his ear. He checked his phone again, noticing he had about ten minutes until he had to get going. The first inkling of anxiety rose in Alexander’s chest. He began pacing back and forth, going over different scenarios in his head, scenarios where he somehow messes up so badly Washington has no choice but to fire him. Or even worse than that, ending with John hating him.

Alexander had not been able to get the freckled boy out of his head since he had met him. He hoped dearly that they would become friends; that would be enough. Talking to John yesterday had been easy, but he had always had problems with making friends. Even he could admit it, he can be a tad bit annoying. When a topic comes up that he feels passionate about, no one can get him to shut up, no matter who he was talking with. That usually drives people away from him. He doesn’t have any friends, not even the people he lives with. He never spends much time at the apartment they share, preferring to spend his time at the library. He tries not to let it bother him, but the loneliness can sometimes get unbearable. He sends a silent message to his mother, something he did when he felt particularly down or alone.

_Mamá, I miss you. I hope you’re doing fine up there. Did I mention I miss you? Anyway, send me some good luck, I’m starting at a new job today, and I don’t want to ruin it. There’s this boy, Mamá. He has the most beautiful hazel eyes-_

“Fuck!” Alexander yelped at the pain that shot through his toe after ramming it into his bedpost. He flopped back onto his bed to rub at his now throbbing foot.

_That’s the last time I pace in the dark…_

His phone, which landed next to him on the bed, lit up with a twitter notification. Alexander eyes widened as he dropped his foot to snatch up the phone. It was already five minutes past when he should have left. “Shit, Shit, Shit.” He cursed as he slipped his shoes on and ran out of the house. He jumped into his car then sped off towards Blue Bellies.

.   .   .

Alexander pulled into the parking lot at exactly 8:55. He breathed a sigh of relief as he parked in the area designated for employees, which already had a few cars in it. He jogged up to the store and pulled the door open.

“Good morning, son.” Washington called, as he fiddled with one of the registers. “You can clock in at the last computer at the sign-in desk.” Alexander walked behind the desk to the computer and typed in his employee number and password that Washington had given him the day before. He also signed his name in the binder that was sitting beside the keyboard. There were three names already written in for that day. The first only had one day on the line, ‘Lafayette’. Alexander figured that it was their last name. The next one was ‘Hercules Mulligan’, which he found incredibly familiar, but could not place where he knew it from. His breath caught in his throat when he read the last name on the list before his.

_John Laurens._

He knew that the other boy would be working on that day, yet he was still flustered at the thought of seeing him. Alexander definitely did want to see him though. He started daydreaming about John’s curly hair, and how soft it would probably be if he could just run his hands through it. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the footsteps coming near him.

“Alexander!” a cheery voice breaking him out of his reverie.

He nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Oops. Sorry!” a concerned John said, leaning on the desk. “I didn’t mean to freak you out like that.” He smiled at him apologetically.

“No! It’s fine! I didn’t notice you coming, it was my fault.” Alexander exclaimed, as he waved his hands in front of him with a slight blush on his face. John shook his head and laughed.

“So did you figure out the whole sign-in process? The computer can be a shit sometimes and not work.” The freckled teen said, easily changing the subject.

“Yep, no sweat!” He replied.

“Alright, alright! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” John shouted as he backpedaled away from the desk, towards the aisles. “C’mon. We gotta make the showroom _presentable_ for the fuckers we call customers.” Washington cleared his throat and when John looked towards him, gave him a stern look.

“Ah. Uh, sorry sir. Don’t call the customers fuckers. I know, got it.” he pointed double finger pistols as him, then looked back at Alexander, who was still standing behind the sign-in desk. “You coming, Alexander?”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah.” He quickly caught up with the other boy.

“Okay so,” John started, “what we have to do is front the store. Basically we make the shelves look full, even if they aren’t. All you have to do is pull the product to the front of the shelve, forming a wall. Make sense?”

Alexander nodded. It seemed easy enough.

John clapped him on the shoulder. He leaned slightly into the touch. “You start in aisle one, I’ll start in aisle six, and we’ll meet around in the middle. Sound good?”

“Sounds great, Laurens. Um. I know it’s your job but, thanks. Thanks for showing me the ropes.”

“It’s not a problem, Alexander.”

John lowered his hand from Alexander’s shoulder. They shared a smile, then went their separate ways.

 _Oh. My_ fucking _God._ Alexander thought to himself as he started fronting the novelties aisle. _John_ fucking _Laurens. He’s gonna be the death of me. I need to get over whatever this is if I’m ever gonna make it through this summer._

He was halfway up aisle two when he heard John quietly singing along to the radio. He quickly finished fronting the aisle and peeked around to see John. He was dancing around as he was putting the products where they belonged, singing _Kiss_ by Prince. He was shaking his hips in time with the music, and spinning around happily. Alexander watched him with reverence; John was beautiful like this, completely caught up in the music. His eyes were sparkling, and a few curls threatened to escape the ponytail as he moved along. On the last spin, he caught Alexander’s gaze, then stumbled, surprised. Alexander didn’t think, he ran the few feet between them, and caught John from behind, as if they were doing a trust fall exercise. The repeater John had in his hand fell to the floor with a dull thud. John was looking up at him, eyes wide and face flushed. Both their chests heaved slightly, Alexander’s from panic at the thought of John getting hurt, John’s from dancing as well as the broad hands that were holding him tightly. They stayed this way for a few moments, though to Alexander, it seemed like hours.

“Are you boys okay back there?” Washington asked, his voice breaking the spell. They broke apart quickly, embarrassed.

“Uh, Yeah! We’re totally good, sir! I accidentally dropped something, don’t worry about it!” John called back.

“It’s alright, son. Just put it on the damaged shelf and I’ll look it over when I get the chance.” Washington replied. “Show Alexander while you’re at it.”

“’Kay!” he leaned down and picked up the now damaged firework. He gazed back at Alexander sheepishly, touching his face in an embarrassed manner.

_Nice one, Hamilton. You embarrassed him. You shouldn’t have been gawking at him anyway._

 “Alright Alexander, let’s go. The damaged shelve is in the warehouse.”

 They walked together to the back of the store and went into the warehouse. Alexander was definitely not prepared for what he saw when John opened the door. There were two boys, who he assumed were Lafayette and Hercules, one on top of a long dolly, and the other was pushing him around the stacks of boxes. The one on top was tall and slender, his hair tied up away from his face, his skin the color of amber. He was laughing loudly, and was standing in a surfer-like pose, though he was also holding on to the handle. The other was also tall, but with more of a stocky build. His skin was a deep copper tone, shining slightly with sweat. He wore a blue headband that matched his shirt, as well as a large grin. With one last heave, he pushed the dolly with all his strength and let it fly. The tall boy shrieked with joy and yelled in a thick French accent, “Freedom for America, freedom for France!” The muscular boy let out a booming laugh and smiled fondly at him.

“Holy shit.” John breathed out with a small laugh.

 Alexander himself was speechless, something that rarely ever happened to him. Worry flooded his system for that second time that morning when he saw that the dolly was headed directly for a cluster of shopping carts in the corner. He was about to call out in alarm, when the French boy leaped off the dolly, landing gracefully just as it crashed into the carts with a sickening clash of metal on metal.

“John, mon ami! Have you come to join us?” he walked over to the two of them excitedly. “Qui est il? Is this our newest employee?”

“Bonjour. Je m’appelle Alexander.” Alexander greeted politely.

“Tu parles français? Oh, je t'aime déjà!” the tall teen pulled him into a tight embrace. “I can’t wait. I finally have someone here to talk shit with.” He let Alexander go and exchanged a mischievous glance with him. John made an indignant noise. “Oui, Laurens. I know you speak a little bit of French too.” He said, rolling his eyes playfully. “But maybe you are the one I want to talk about.” he added. He turned back to Alexander, addressing him directly. “I have a terribly long name, so you can just call me Lafayette, Mon petit líon.” Alexander found that he liked the nickname.

The other boy, Hercules, was checking on the carts, making sure they weren’t _too_ damaged. He then walked over to the group, and his face lit up in recognition. “Alexander? Alexander Hamilton? I know you!”

“Hercules, right? Your name sounded familiar.”

“Yeah man, we had intro to Polisci together! Dude, I just want to say, your essay on education reforms was amazing.” Hercules said as he clapped him on the shoulder. Alexander grinned sheepishly up at him in reply.

“Hey wait, you go to the same university as us?” John questioned eagerly.

“As us? You all go there?” Alexander’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yeah! We’re all Polisci majors, except I minor in Illustration, and Laf minors in French History.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t seen you two before then. I’m a Polisci and English double major.”

“Seems like a lot of work, dude.” Hercules teased. “So, did you guys need anything specific from back here? Because you’ll probably have to get back on the showroom soon. You know G-Wash doesn’t like it when no one is there to greet the customers.”

John waved his hand dismissively. “I know, I know. We just have to put this on the damaged shelf. I was messing around and dropped it.”

“Were you trying to impress Alexander here with your fronting skills, mon ami?” Lafayette wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the freckled boy.

“W-what? No. Shut up, you…you baguette fucker!” John yelled, smacking Lafayette in the arm.

The warehouse door opened and Washington stuck his head in. “Alexander? Could you come to my office? I need your bank information so you can get paid.” 

“Yes sir!” He called. “I’ll see you out there later, John. Later guys!” he jogged to the door to follow Washington. 

.   .   .

John’s eyes followed Alexander’s back as he left with Washington. He was glad Washington interrupted when he did. Was his crush really that obvious to his friend? Or was Lafayette just making a general joke at his expense?

“John? Hey! John!” Hercules finally got his attention by snapping his fingers in front of his face. “Are you okay?”

“Oh. Sorry, Herc. I should go.” He started towards the doors.

“Hey John?” piped Lafayette.

“Yeah?”

“You might want to tone down the, how you say? Heart eyes? You look like a lovesick puppy. Unless you want him to know.”

“I’m not making heart eyes!” John squeaked, blush very apparent on his face. “It’s not like that, Laf. I just met him.” Hercules scoffed and started moving around boxes.

“Whatever you say, mon ami. Whatever you say.” The French teen followed Hercules, helping him with the particularly large boxes.

He let out an exasperated breath as he pushed the door open and went back to the showroom. After he finished fronting the store, he sat at the first chair behind the sign-in desk. John was absentmindedly doodling turtles on some scrap pieces of paper when Alexander came out of Washington’s office. Alexander plopped down in the seat next to him at the sign-in desk. He watched john draw, smiling slightly. After a while he spoke.

“I like how you draw. Those turtles remind me of home.”

John smiled at the compliment. “Where are you from?”

“I lived in the Caribbean, on an island called Nevis. I immigrated here when I was sixteen.”

“Wow. I think I’ve heard that island, people say it’s beautiful. You probably already guessed it, but Lafayette’s an immigrant too. It seems like you two will get along well.” He bumped Alexander’s shoulder with his.

“I get along with you too.” Alexander mumbled. John’s heart thumped hard in his chest at the dark-haired boy’s words. Alexander was looking down at John’s doodles, absentmindedly putting his hair that had fallen from his bun behind his ear.

“Do you…do you want to keep those?”

Alexander look up quickly. “Seriously? I can have them?” he asked incredulously. John chuckled.

“Of course. They are just little doodles, and you seem to have grown attached.” He slid them over to the other teen. He picked them up, carefully folded the small papers, and slid them into his pants’ pocket.

“Thank you.” He said quietly. They sat in comfortable silence, until they were interrupted by the sound of bells, signifying a customer had come in.

“Hello, welcome to Blue Bellies Fireworks!” John greeted. “Where our prices are _revolutionarily_ good.” The customer, a woman with long dreads and a golden sundress, smiled brightly at him. He got her set up on the computer, and printed out her forms that stated she would not do anything illegal with whatever she bought. He told her the deals of the day, and asked if she was looking for anything in particular.

“Not really, I think I’ll just look around for now. But thank you.” John smiled and nodded as she walked away.

 “So that’s how you put the customer into the system and get their forms. Did you watch as I did it?” John asked, searching Alexander’s eyes with his own. Alexander hummed in agreement, then said,

“Yeah, but I might need to see you do it a few more times to get it down.” He leaned closer to John and lightly touched his forearm. John’s arm tingled, and he gulped.

“Well, if we _ever_ get another customer, you can.” John replied, nearly bringing their foreheads together. John looked at Alexander’s lips, to his eyes, back to his lips.

“Um, excuse me. I’m ready to check out now.” John pulled away so fast he almost gave himself whiplash.

“Right away, Miss. I can help you at register one.” He rounded the desk and led her to the register. She had a small order, only a few sparkler packs and some confetti poppers, so he had her on her way in a matter of minutes. And while he was polite, calm, and collected on the outside, John was freaking out on the inside.

_What the hell was I doing? Did he realize how much I wanted to kiss him? Oh god, what if he did? I can’t do that again, I need to control myself, Jesus._

“Have a nice day, Miss!” he beamed as she gave a friendly wave.

He took a deep breath, then turned back towards the other teen.

“C’mere, let’s start your training on the register. Better do it now than when we start getting busy.”

Alexander came over to where John was standing and they started his training. John thought Alexander was a quick learner, picking up using the register like it was second nature. They did fake orders, and went over what to do in different scenarios. They went over bonus items customers received when they spend certain amounts. They went over how to put coupons on an order, and what to do when a customer is being especially rude. John felt himself relaxing, the register was the one thing he knew inside and out, it was his comfort zone. Before he knew it, the hours flew by.

“And what do you do if the coupon doesn’t go through correctly?” John had been testing Alexander for the past thirty minutes, and Alexander had the answer to every question.

“Call you, Lee, or Washington over, since you three are the only ones able to override the computer.” He answered, with absolute confidence.

“Correct! Damn, I can’t believe you got all the questions right! I couldn’t prepare you anymore than this. You’re as ready as you’ll ever be,” declared John, checking off all the boxes for Alexander’s training sheet. He leaned over to check the time on the register. “Holy shit, it’s 2:45 already?! It was only a little after 11 when we started!” Alexander whistled.

“No me diga! You had me studying for three and a half hours?” Alexander glared at him, but there was no anger in his face or his voice. John chuckled, poking him in the ribs with his elbow.

“Ppphhht, please. That was easy. Wait until the real customers show up. Now, those fuckers will have you _praying_ that you were back studying with me!”

“I don’t doubt it for a second, Laurens.” The fond look Alexander gave John made his heart jump into his throat. The other boy didn’t realize just how much that look affected him. He turned his head away, hoping to hide the blush he felt on his face.

“Well, we can probably wrap it up here now. Since we got all your training done, we can leave a few minutes early. G-Wash won’t mind.” They walked over to the sign-in desk together, and clocked out one after the other. John sent a text to Laf telling him he’d see him at the apartment when he and Herc got off. They made their way out, and stood together in front of the building. John wasn’t entirely sure how to say goodbye without it being awkward.

“So, do you work tomorrow?” he inquired, trying not to sound overly interested.

“Nope, I do the day after though. What about you?” Alexander leaned his back against the building’s exterior.

“I do, morning shift. So does Hercules. But I think Lafayette has the day off.”

“Do you think,” Alexander began, suddenly sounding not so sure of himself, “tell me if this is too forward, I mean I know we just met and we’re coworkers so I get if you don’t want to be friends like, outside of work” he babbled, hands waving through the air. He shook his head once, sharp and fast. “What I’m trying to ask is, do you want to hang out tomorrow? After your shift?” he looked up at John, a hesitant hope shining in his eyes.

“Yes!” he blurted out, sounding too fast and too eager to his own ears. He cringed internally. “I mean, yes, definitely. If you want to! That is.”

“I do. I do want to.” 

“Good. You want my number? So we can make plans when I get out of work.” Alexander handed him his phone after unlocking it. John typed out his name and number and gave it back. “Send me a text now. That way, I’ll know it’s you.” The shorter boy quickly thumbed out a message. John’s phone buzzed a second later.

**From: unknown**

_Laurens I like you a lot :)_

John felt as though the air was knocked out of his lungs. He laughed nervously. Alexander didn’t mean it in the way he wanted him to, it was a platonic message, John _knew_ that. But that didn’t stop his heart from beating much too fast to be normal. He sent back a simple smiley face, then looked back up at Alexander. He smiled at the other boy, though he heart ached.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Alex.” He ambled to his car and opened the door. Alexander did the same with his own vehicle.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He echoed, his eyes soft. He climbed into his car and waved as he drove away.

_Lord, show me how to get over this boy._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends!! here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!! there are so many references in this chapter omfg. There's also one to In The Heights, which if u haven't listen to, u definitely should!! it's so good omg  
> also thanks to my friends katie and emily!! thank you for editing the chapter again
> 
> My tumblr url is realityrewind, come yell with me about hamilton !!
> 
> also!! the customer that came in was theodosia!! i just wanted to include her


	3. the place to be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys hang out outside of work! aka the entire squad is gay as hell. Also we learn a bit about John's backstory, and how much of a dick Lee is. (tw for past abuse and panic attacks)

Alexander woke with a start, heart beating wildly in his chest. His eyes scanned his room franticly, the nightmare of heavy winds, thundering rain, and huge waves still fogging his brain. Panic rushed in his veins. He gripped his sheets tightly in his fists. When he realized he was in his bed, safe from the hurricane that once destroyed everything he knew, he counted to ten in French. It was something he had learned from his mother as a child. His breathing slowed to a normal pace, the dream fading from his mind. He slowly released his blanket from his hands, and rolled over on his side. Facing the window, he noticed that the sun had just started to rise on the horizon. He reached for his phone on his nightstand. He fiddled with it in the dark for a few moments, then shrank back when the screen lit up brightly. Reading 6:25 A.M. made Alexander groan. He had only gotten about five hours of sleep, give or take. Yet, there was no way he would be falling asleep again. The nightmare he had just experienced ensured that.

He scrolled through his twitterfeed mindlessly, not finding anything in particular that caught his attention. He remembered suddenly that he had plans that day and sat up as if he was shocked with electricity.

 _I’m seeing John today. Outside of work. He actually wants to hang out with me. With_ me.

He hopped out of bed and began walking aimlessly around the apartment. He felt nervous, but excited to see his new friend. He hoped he would also see Hercules and Lafayette. It seemed like they all actually liked him, something Alexander found kind of unbelievable. He had never had a group of friends before, but now he found people that he wanted to be around, and that wanted to be around him. He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face if he tried.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to see John until after three, so he tried busying himself to pass the time. He made breakfast for himself, something he rarely did. He tended to forget meals. He planned on making enough for him as well as his roommates, but they weren’t home. Alexander didn’t think they even came back last night. One of their friends, some guy named Jeff or something, had a party the night before. They had invited him, but he politely declined in favor of writing on his political blog. He wasn’t really a party person anyway.

After eating some scrambled eggs and toast, he decided to clean up the kitchen. It wasn’t all that dirty, mostly just washing the dishes and wiping down the table, but it was something to do. He had a lot of waiting to do. Hanging out with his friends was still hours away, but Alexander was determined to not give in and text John early. He didn’t want to bother him while he was at work. He also didn’t want to come off as clingy or annoying. He took his phone out from his sweatpants’ pocket and placed it on the kitchen counter. Forcing himself to leave it there, he went to the living area to see what else he could clean to distract himself. It was going to be a long day, and Alexander was not a patient person.

.   .   .

John’s shift was going _so slow_. While they did have a good amount of customers come in, the minutes seemed to drag on and on. The first few hours of the day were fine, Hercules was there to keep him company, and to push him around on the dolly because _holy fuck_ , seeing Lafayette on one made him want to ride on it too. Herc was a little hesitant to do it at first, and John had suspected it was because it was his and Laf’s thing.

Hercules’ crush on Lafayette was painfully obvious, to him at least. Herc never wanted to talk about it; he thinks he doesn’t have a chance with the French teen. But John has seen the way Laf looks at him when he thinks no one is watching. He gets this dreamy kind of look in his eyes, with so much adoration John often felt the need to look away, as if he is intruding on a moment between his two friends. John doesn’t want to push either of them. They’ll figure it out one their own. Eventually.

After pleading and begging and a few puppy dog stares, Hercules finally gave in.  They gave Lee a flimsy excuse, saying Hercules needed help lifting some of the boxes in the warehouse, that he couldn’t _possibly_ do it on his own. Lee eyed them sharply for a few moments, then waved his hand as if to dismiss them. They raced each other to the warehouse, laughing and pushing each other on the way. Once they had made it in, John jumped on the nearest dolly, and gave a challenging grin to Hercules. The larger teen gave it right back, and with a whooping laugh, charged the dolly as hard as he could. John was _flying_. Hercules was steering him all around the warehouse, taking sharp turns john thought of as impossible before around the stacks of boxes and product. It was the most fun he had had in a long time, until the dolly inevitably caught on one of the boxes and stopped so suddenly that john was thrown off, landing in a heap on the hard concrete floor.

“John! Oh my god, are you alright? Shit, oh shit. John?” it took a few seconds for Hercules wiggle his way around the dolly to John’s side.

“Herc?” John voice was a little shaky. “That. Was _so_ sick. How far did I fucking go?” he sat up and turned to see the dolly. “Dude, that was like, at least 10 feet. Okay, maybe 5. But still! Can we do it again?” he looked up at his friend, who was already looking at him in disbelief. A grin slowly worked its way across Herc’s features.

“Laurens! You scared the shit out of me! No way, we are _not_ doing that again!” he shouted as he clapped his hand on John’s back.

That had been an hour ago, Hercules had finished his shift, and so now John was stuck working only with Lee. He had Charles Lee had never gotten along. Lee was already assistant manager when John started working at Blue Bellies. Now, John would admit, he used to be hard to be around. He had a lot of mistrust and frustration in him that he often took out on his coworkers. But Washington was patient with him, he helped control the swirl of negative emotions that would often cloud his judgement. But Lee never saw John for who he really was, who he was now. Lee would also do anything to get John fired. He felt about the same.

There had been a lapse in customers, so John busied himself with his phone. He was watching Lafayette and Hercules send memes back and forth in their group chat, adding a few snide comment here and there.  He was also forcing himself not to text a certain boy he had plans with later that day. He didn’t want to come off as overbearing and scare him away. Or worse, find out that he did have feelings for him and get grossed out. He had had bad experiences with other guys in the past, and while he didn’t think Alexander was the type to be homophobic, his past had left him paranoid.

“ _Why_ do you have your phone out on the showroom floor?” a grating voice was suddenly next to him. He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes, then turned his head to his coworker.

“ _Because_ , there aren’t any customers currently in the store. And I’m head cashier. I’m _allowed_.” He spit back.

“Well, Washington isn’t here right now, so _I’m_ the boss. And I say you _aren’t_ allowed.” Lee replied, with a glint in his eyes, egging John’s anger on.

If this situation happened a year ago, John would have given in to his hostility and socked Lee in the mouth. But not anymore.

_Plus, if I punch him again, I won’t get another second chance from Washington._

He wouldn’t be able to handle the disappointed look in Washington’s face again. It reminded John too much of his mother’s. So he bit back what he really wanted to say to Lee, let out a loud sigh, and slid his phone back into his pocket.

“Fine, there. Happy?” he pushed off the register that he was leaning on and stalked towards the warehouse doors. He wanted to get as far from the man as he could for his last hour at work. He was halfway down the aisle when Lee called after him, standing at the beginning of the aisle.

“I swear, I don’t know what that idiot Washington sees in you. He must be blind to keep you working here. You’re going to slip up one of these days, and Washington won’t be able to help you, I can promise you that.”

Red hot anger flooded John’s brain. He stopped dead in his tracks, and whipped around to face his opponent.

“How _dare_ you bad-mouth Mr. Washington! _You suck_ at dealing with customers, with stocking, with working with others, even more than I did when I started here! He could have fired you a long ass time ago.” John stormed closer and closer to Lee. In a flash he was up in his face, finger pointing right between the man’s eyes.  “And are you fucking threatening me?! Because I swear to _God_ , I’ll-“

“You’ll what?” Lee barked with a sadistic laugh. “You’ll hit me again? Do it, and you’ll _never_ set foot in this store again.”

John growled, low in his throat. They stared each other down, neither willing to back down. John’s whole body felt hot, adrenaline pumping through his veins. It was a feeling he was familiar with, but not something he welcomed. He could take Lee that was a fact that had already been proven. But he didn’t want to lose his job, his friends, his _family_ , over this man. The sudden sound of the bells that hung over the doorway broke the harsh tension between them. Lee made one last sound of discontent before leaving him to greet whomever came inside. It turned out that it wasn’t a customer at all, but Washington himself. John heard his voice, but didn’t stay to see him. He walked the rest of the way to the warehouse doors. Lee was probably complaining about him at that very moment.

John flopped down on the cardboard pile miserably. He hated him. Lee didn’t deserve to work here. No one else liked him. The man is rude, insensitive, and always talks about Washington behind his back. Washington, the first person that had showed him compassion after what had happened to him. Washington, the man he now sees as a sort of father figure, thought he would never say it out loud. He felt a lump of fear grow in his throat as memories started invading his brain in small, painful bursts. His father’s eyes staring down at him with unbridled hatred. His siblings’ crying. The pain of running with bruised ribs. He curled into himself, his breathing becoming more and more erratic.

_I can’t go back, I can’t go back, I can’t go back, I can’t-_

“Son?” John’s panicked thoughts were interrupted by Washington, who was standing about 10 feet away, looking concerned. John covered his face with his hands and groaned, he didn’t want to be seen like this. In such a pitiful state. He was trying to slow his breathing, hiccupping a few times. A hand touched his shoulder softly, and he knew it was Washington, but he couldn’t help flinching away, his memories of his father too fresh in his mind. He let out a long, shaking breath, then sat up. He looked at his boss nervously.

“Sorry. S-sorry you had to see that, sir.” He said meekly, glancing down at his own hands in his lap.

“Don’t worry about it, son. Things happen. Now, do you want to fill me in on what I just interrupted between you and Mr. Lee?” Washington’s usually loud and authoritative voice was soft and gentle to John’s ears. But being reminded of Lee only stood to work him up again.

“Boss, you should’ve heard the shit he said about you! About me!” he exclaimed angrily. “God, he just makes me wanna, wanna-“

“John.” The tall man cut him off as he rose from the floor. He held his hand out to John, so the teen clamped his mouth shut and took it. “Don’t do a thing. If you get into another fight with him…”

“You’ll have no choice but to fire me, I know.”

“You know I don’t want to do that, John. You’re one of the best men I’ve got here.” The corner of his mouth upturned slightly. John nodded back. “Why don’t you get out of here? I’ll clock you out when your shift is over.” He said, winking.

They walked onto the showroom floor together.  Washington leaned against the sign-in desk, his hands folded in front of his stomach.

“Thank you, sir.” Washington nodded silently in reply. Just as John reached the front door, Lee walked out of the managers’ office. A look of disbelief, followed quickly by outrage flashed across Lee’s features as he met John’s eyes. John smirked and blew a kiss as he passed through the door into the summer heat.

 _I really_ really _hate that guy. But he doesn’t matter right now. I get to see Alexander today. Outside of work._

Just thinking of the dark-haired boy made John’s heart skip a beat, and brought a smile to his face. He hopped into his car and sped off towards home.

.   .   .

Alexander was trying to write some poetry, something he was pretty good at, though at the moment the words wouldn’t fit quite right. Something about freckles being kisses from god’s angels themselves. He was so focused, chewing on the end of his pen and staring at the paper marked up with scribbles and crossed off words. He almost had it, he could feel it. Suddenly his phone buzzed next to him, causing him to jump and nearly fall out of his chair. After gathering himself, he picked up the phone from his desk.

**From: freckleface**

_hey hey a. ham_

_still want to hang out_

Of course he still wanted to hang out. With John, with any of the guys from work. He texted back quickly.

**To: freckleface**

_Definitely!_

He didn’t have to wait long for the other teen’s reply.

**From: freckleface**

_sweet_

_do you want to come over_

_we can chill, play video games, w/e_

Alexander guessed John disregarded the ‘no double texting’ rule most people went by. Not that he minded. Alexander was notorious for sending so many messages, it often overwhelmed whomever was on the receiving end. But what could he do? He had a lot to say.

**To: freckleface**

_Sure! Just tell me where to go and I’ll be on my way._

After john sent him the address to the apartment complex where he was currently staying, Alexander got dressed and cleaned himself up. He almost put his hair up in a ponytail, then decided to just leave it down. But he put a hair tie on his wrist. Just in case.

The apartments were just a few minutes away from the college campus that they all attended, as well as the downtown area of the town. Alexander parked his car and ran his hands through his hair.

**To: freckleface**

_Hey, I just pulled in._

_Come down and get me?_

Alexander stared at his phone’s screen for almost a full minute, waiting for a response. Another minute passed. Then another. He anxiously bit his bottom lip, and drummed his fingers across his steering wheel. He stared at his phone some more. He slowly started thumbing out another message, hesitantly holding his finger over the send button. A loud ‘thud!’ interrupted him, and he looked up to see Lafayette leaning on his car, smiling brightly at him.

“Mon ami! You are here!” the boy’s voice was muffled by the car’s windows. Alexander laughed in relief, and stepped out of his car.

“Lafayette! I didn’t expect you!” the French boy rushed over and grabbed his arm.

“John sent me to come get you. He is in the middle of, ah, ‘destroying’ Hercules at Mario kart.” He flashed Alexander another dazzling smile. “So you get me. Hopefully you are not too disappointed, mon petit lion!”

“Of course not, Laf! You’re my friend too. Actually, I was hoping to hang out with you two as well.” He confessed. They were now inside the apartment complex, Lafayette leading them towards an elevator. It looked pretty nice inside. Nothing was dirty, and it was well lit. As they stepped inside the elevator, Lafayette turned to him and pushed the button for the third floor. “Well, you obviously were going to see us at our own apartment, Alexander.”

“Oh. I didn’t know it was yours, John didn’t mention it.”

“Yeah, it’s mine and Hercules’. John is staying with us until school starts again and he moves into the dorms.” He replied as they stepped off the elevator into a slim corridor lined with doors.

“Why doesn’t he just go home?”

Lafayette’s face clouded over. “It is not my story to tell. John will tell you if he wishes.” He said mysteriously.

After walking silently for a few moments, they reached a door that was already propped open. Laf pushed it open, a smile back on his face, as if their conversation had never happened.

“Look who I found waiting outside!” he announced as Alexander walking in. Alexander’s eyes wondered over the apartment. To the left of him was an island with a few tall chairs, and a small kitchen. There were doors lining the wall opposite of him, where Alexander assumed were bedrooms and a bathroom. The front door he came in from led into a spacious common area, with a couch, a recliner, and a large TV. A huge rug covered most of the hard wood floor. There even was a fireplace on the other end of the room.

John was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, swinging a Wii steering wheel wildly. A string of curses flew from his mouth. His eyes were glued on the screen; Alexander was pretty sure that he didn’t even notice he had arrived. Hercules was on top of the recliner, and from first glance, he looked very relaxed. But, with a closer look, Alexander could see that his eyes were flitting back and forth, filled with intensity. With a sudden cry of triumph, John tossed the controller into the air. Thankfully, it had landed on the couch safely. He jumped up and started doing a victory dance, along with a little song.

“Oh snap! Who’s that? Don’t touch me, I’m too hot, yes! Qué pasó, here I g-“ He cut himself off when he finally opened his eyes and saw Alexander standing in the room. His eyes got impossibly wide, and his face grew red hot. He let out a loud groan as he fell on the couch in a heap, covering his face with a throw pillow. At this point Hercules and Lafayette were howling with laughter. Alexander himself was trying to hold back the giggles that threatened to escape. He was glad no one was paying attention to him, as he was sure his face was just as red as John’s. His victory dance was just too cute for Alexander to handle. He got a hold of himself just as the laughter died down. John peeked out from behind the pillow hesitantly.

“Hi, John.” Was all that Alexander said, but it sent the two other boys right back into hysterics. The freckled boy sat up and whipped the pillow at Lafayette. It hit him directly in the face, with a small ‘oof!’

“Shut up!” John yelled, joining in the laughter. “Why didn’t you tell me Alexander was here!?”

Lafayette put his hand on his hip, pointing at John with the pillow. “Uh, I _did_. You were too busy playing your silly game!”

“Did you just call Mario Kart _silly_?” John screeched out indignantly. Laf threw the pillow back at John, thumping him in the chest. John let out a loud “Ha!” and snatched up the pillow and began chasing the French boy around the apartment. Lafayette shrieked and chortled with every smack John got in.

“Guuuys!” Hercules grumbled loudly. “They do this all the time. I sewed those pillows myself!” Alexander smiled, though he still wasn’t entirely sure what to do with himself.

Lafayette hurled his long body over the couch’s back, landing on the cushions. John stood over him, bombarding the boy with hit after hit, a large grin on his face.

“I surrender! J’abandonne!” Laf cried out, still laughing breathlessly, protecting his face with his arms.

“Okay.” John said simply, and dropped the pillow on the Frenchman. He plopped down on the floor in front of the couch. He then gazed up at him. “Hi, Alexander. C’mon. You can sit with me on the floor. It’s comfy, the rug is soft as hell.” He patted the floor next to him.

Alexander happily made his way to John’s side. John nudged him playfully when he sat down. “So what’s up? How’d you spend the beginning of your day off?”

“Oh not much. Cleaned a little. Wrote a little. Waited for you to get off work.” After realizing what he said, he quickly followed up with, “What about you? How was your day?” and nudged him back.

“It was fine, except Lee’s _such_ a dick. He keeps shit-talking G-Wash. It pisses me off.” John’s eyes grew hard, his mouth a straight line.

“He did it today too?” Hercules interjected. “Damn, that dude needs to be taught a lesson. Again.”

“Again?” Alexander questioned, looking to each of his friends for an answer.

“I may have punched him,” John confessed, going from angry to meek in a flash. “It’s a blur, man.” He rubbed his neck, looking at the floor.

Alexander was taken aback. John seemed to be able to handle Lee with grace. He would have never guessed John had to resort to violence before. “And he still keeps running his mouth? Wow.”

John hummed in agreement. “But fuck him. What were you writing?” he answered, quickly changing the subject.

“Oh. Just some poetry.”

“Really? Maybe I could read some of your work? If, that’s okay with you.” John laughed out nervously, looking up at him through his eyelashes. And _Jesus_ , Alexander would do anything if he asked him like that. John’s eyes were beautiful and half lidded, his lips open slightly. His breath caught in his throat, he wanted to say something back, but his brain was spinning, and with a sudden realization that John was only a few inches away, so close he could count every freckle on the boy’s face. He could just lean in slightly and-

“Me too, petit lion!” Lafayette exclaimed, ruffling his Alexander’s hair.

“Hey!” he yelped, knocking Laf’s hand from his head, then attempting to smooth his hair back down. John giggled next to him, and Hercules watched on in amusement.

After a beat of comfortable silence, John crawled over to the TV and started fiddling with it. Alexander tried his best not to stare, feeling his face grow hot once again.

_Not now, Hamilton. It’s weird to stare at your friend’s ass. The others might notice._

The freckled boy moved back to his side and offered him a PlayStation 4 controller. The familiar star wars theme song played softly from the TV. 

“You wanna play?” he asked. “It’s Battlefront.”

“I’ve never played it before.” Alexander replied hesitantly.

“I’ll just have to teach ya then!” John replied with a wink. Alexander’s chest felt tight.

They played a few rounds doing different missions. Alexander liked doing the Hoth missions, though he wasn’t that good at controlling the Stormtrooper character. John enjoyed playing as Darth Vader. When Alexander started giving him shit about it, he proclaimed that the dark side was way better than the Jedi way.

“Whatever you say, captain edge lord.” Alexander retorted as he cut a Stormtrooper down as Luke Skywalker. John squawked in an offended manner, while Hercules snorted out a laugh. Alexander looked away from the screen, only to see Lafayette and Hercules curled up together on the recliner, Lafayette fast asleep.  He turned back to the game quickly, not wanting to ruin their moment.

_Are they…together? I’ll have to ask John about it later._

Alexander found out he was really bad at playing multiplayer. He couldn’t go a minute without someone taking him out, much to his distress. Meanwhile, John was amazing at it. He had the longest killstreak, and he didn’t mind bragging about it. Alexander was sick of losing, and kind of bored now. He set his controller down quietly, so he wouldn’t alarm his friend. He slowly reared back, arms up. He held the pose for a few seconds, then slammed his whole self onto John’s side. With a surprised yelp from John, then both fell over. John’s character was killed almost immediately.

“Alexander!” John cried out. “I was winning! I almost beat my old score, you mother fucker!” He whined, pushing Alexander half-heartedly.

“I’m bored of watching you win! Let’s do something else, c’mon!” He patted John’s head and stood up to stretch.

_His hair **i**_ **s** _soft._

Lafayette had woken up from the commotion, and must have heard Alexander’s suggestion. He got up off Hercules’ lap.

“Oui! Let’s go downtown to get bubble tea!” He said as he put his arm around Alexander’s shoulders.

“As long as you’re buyin’, Frenchie.” John hopped up, his high score forgotten.

.   .   .

Twenty minutes later, the group stood inside a frozen yogurt place, ordering bubble tea.

“What kind do you want, mon ami?” Lafayette asked Alexander, who stared at the menu, overwhelmed.

“I don’t know, I’ve never had it before. What do you recommend?” he questioned his friends.

“What fruit do you like?” Herc replied.

“Um. I like strawberries?” answering with more of a question than a statement.

Lafayette nodded and turned back to the woman taking their order. He quickly told her what they wanted with a charming smile. She rang out their total and Laf gave her the money. Alexander felt bad about him having to spend money on him, but the Frenchman would hear nothing of it. He claimed that since he suggested it, he had to pay.

After a few minutes, the waitress came back out hand gave them their orders. With a chorus of ‘Thank you!’s, the group left the building, and started the short trek home. From what he could tell, his was strawberry black tea with strawberry flavored jellies. He liked the feeling of the jellies popping on his tongue.

“Do you like it?” John inquired, sipping on his own mango flavored green tea.

“Yeah, it’s a little weird, though.”

“Wanna try mine?” John holds his drink out to him. Alexander takes it in his other hand and takes a small sip.

Lafayette gasped in mock horror. “John! An indirect kiss? How forward of you!”

John squeaked out a weak “What?!” while Alexander sputtered and nearly dropped both of their drinks.

Hercules let out a chuckle, and whispered “k-i-s-s-i-n-g” under his breath. Laf grabbed Hercules’ arm and pulled him along, so they were walking a few feet ahead of John and Alexander, whispering in the muscular boy’s ear.

Both boys were both too flustered to speak for a few minutes, until Alexander noticed he was still holding both of their drinks. “Oh. Here.” He said as he handed the tea back over to John. He let out a small sound of thanks, and some of the tension between them broke a bit. “So.” Alexander started quietly. “What’s up with those two?” motioning to their two friends.

“Oh them? I think they’re in love. They just don’t realize it yet.”

“They’re not together already? They seem like it.” Alexander was honestly surprised. They were openly affectionate with each other, cuddling and walking so close together, arm in arm.

“They’ll figure it out one day. You know they already share a room? And a bed?” John informed, leaning close as if he was telling him a secret.

“Is it so you can have your own room?” Alexander asked as they round the street corner, the apartment complex now in view.

“Nah, I sleep on the pull out couch. I don’t want to inconvenience them more then I already do. The other room just has their shit in it.”

_John sleeps on the couch?_

“Why do you stay with them?” he blurted out, his curiosity getting the best of him. “Why not just go home for the summer?”

John stopped walking for a moment, biting his lip. He seemed to be debating on telling him something important. The boy let out a sigh, and continued walking, a bit faster this time.

“My dad. He’s…he’s not a good person. I left home when I turned eighteen, haven’t been back since. I guess he doesn’t want it to look bad, so he still pays for my classes in college. But um. Yeah, that’s why. He. Yeah…” John spoke fast, then trailed off. Alexander could see it was a touchy subject, and felt bad about asking. Was this what Lafayette was talking about? Was this John’s story?

“Sorry, I shouldn’t of pried.” He said softly, touching his friend’s arm lightly. By then they had reached the parking lot. Herc and Laf were waiting next to Alexander’s car.

“It’s fine, Alexander. You’re my friend, I’m…I feel okay talking to you about it. But maybe another time, when I’m expecting it.” Alexander nodded with a small smile, and John smiled back. They reached their friends. Alexander got his keys out.

“Alright guys, I’d better head home. Gotta be at work bright and early!” His friends gave him a big group hug, and left to the apartment’s doors. Alexander felt warm and fuzzy as he drove away, his friends waving as he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! sorry this chapter took forever omg. I was really busy for a while, so I didn't have much time to write. But hopefully this is good, this chapter is the longest one yet! There are references to Hamilton lyrics as well as In The Heights, bc i love that musical so much omfg. ummm yeah, that's it! 
> 
> thanks again to my two editors, katie and emily, i love you too!! <3  
> also u can find me on tumblr and yell at me about hamilton!! my url is realityrewind
> 
> next chapter we meet the beautiful schuyler sisters, and the mysterious maria reynolds !! B)


	4. i panic for a second, thinking 'we're through!'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter maria + the schyuler sisters! Lee is creepy as hell, and John and Alex bond over free ice cream! Another barrier is broken with a confession, but how will Alex react?

“Alright, you’ll just take these forms up to the register with you when you’re ready to check out. If you have any questions, just ask!” Alexander hands the papers to the girl in front of him, leaning close. He was taken in by her beauty, her long curly hair, and her big red lips. The girl’s mouth curled up in thanks as she walked away towards the first aisle. Honestly, if Alexander didn’t already have an ever-growing crush on a certain freckled boy, he probably would have followed her around to flirt and try to get her number. He was still staring after her when he heard someone clear their throat next to him. He turned to his right and saw none other than John, now sitting in the chair that was empty just seconds ago. Alexander got the vibe that his friend might be upset, though he wasn’t sure why. Now that he had been friends with him- as well as Hercules and Lafayette- for a couple weeks, he was now able to read the other’s moods pretty well. He seemed to be sort of deflated, and avoided meeting Alexander’s eyes.

“So,” John started. “We’ll probably need you up at the register soon. I think I can handle it up here by myself.” He drummed his hand on the desk nervously, staring at the screen in front of him. A wave of concern washed over Alexander. Did something happen to his coworker? Was it something he had done?

“Did I do something wrong…?” He asked in a small voice, looking down at his hands. He looked back up when he saw John’s head quickly whip around to face him, his eyes wide with surprise.

“No, no, of course not! I didn’t mean to be rude…I’m sorry.” The freckled teen grinned at Alexander sheepishly, though his smile didn’t quite meet his eyes. Alexander gathered that something had soured John’s mood, so he would try his best to make him feel better.

“Well, I’ll stay up here with you until someone needs to check out. If that’s okay, I mean,” he explained and scooted his chair a bit closer to his friend.

“I _suppose_ I can bear it for a while longer.” John joked, already seeming a bit brighter.

The bells over the doors sounded, and a group of three girls entered the store. They walked confidently, eyes wondering over the layout of the building. Two went directly to the managers’ office, while the girl in blue rushed towards the front desk excitedly.

“John Laurens!” She called out, a large smile on her face. “It’s been too long!” she hugged him around the neck from behind the desk, which looked awkward and a bit difficult, but she didn’t look like she cared one bit. Meanwhile, John was laughing and hugging her back. Once they let go they gazed at each other happily. Alexander felt a twinge of jealously growing inside of him. Did John like this girl? Who was she? As he looked her over, he found that he couldn’t blame his friend for liking her. She was gorgeous, her long black hair cascaded down her back, and her eyes bright and full of joy. Hell, he could even see himself having a thing for her, and he didn’t even know her name.

“So who is this?” the girl asked as she peered in his direction. He leaned over to shake her hand, and though she seemed a bit surprised, she took it.

“I’m Alexander Hamilton, I just started here a few weeks ago. And you are?”

“Elizabeth Schuyler. Call me Eliza. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled at him.

“Her father owns the store,” John interjected. “Her sisters are the ones that went into the managers’ office.”

“I probably should head over there as well. You know how Angelica can be.” She rolled her eyes with a small tug on the corner of her lips.

Just at that moment, the girl who Alexander had helped with her forms earlier emerged from aisle two, and lingered at the endcap of one of the registers. Once Eliza had spotted her, she froze up, her face turning red. She quickly turned to face John, a slight look of panic in her eyes. She leaned over the desk, her hands on the sides of her face, as if to hide herself.

“John.” She whispered with a tone of urgency. “Who. Is. That. Girl.”

“I, uh, I don’t know. She just came in before you.” He fumbled, her panic spreading to him. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“I think I just fell in love with her.” There was a beat of slience, then Eliza broke out with a large grin. “Holy shit, she is really, really hot. John, I’m freaking out. It’s like, the moment I saw her, my world got all fuzzy. My heart feels like it’s beating out of my chest.” She rambled on, giddiness now apparent with her discovery.

“I know how that feels, trust me.” John mumbled under his breath.

_Oh god,_ Alexander thought. _He really does like her. And now he just watched her get all lovey-dovey over that girl._

“Her name is Maria,” he said quietly. “I saw it when I printed out her papers.”

“Maria.” Eliza repeated. She let out a large, nervous breath. “Okay, wish me luck guys. I’m going to try to get her number!” She saluted as she walked backwards a couple steps, then turned to follow Maria, who just turned down the third aisle.

John stared after her for a few moments, a small, sad looking smile on his face. It almost looked like longing, and Alexander felt a pang of a strange mixture of pity and envy. He knew John wanted Eliza, it was apparent by the look on his face. Though he didn’t like to see his friend suffer, he also wished that John wanted him like Eliza wanted Maria. He wanted nothing more than his friend wandering after him, gathering the nerve to ask him out. He would flirt back, maybe even play hard to get. He would give in quickly though, he couldn’t say no to those eyes-

“Alexander. Alexander! Hey, are you alright?” John was waving his hand in front of Alexander’s face, which is the only thing that snapped him out of his daydream.

“Whoops! Sorry, head in the clouds!” He stammered, feeling guilty for thinking about John that way when he was sitting right beside him, obviously hurt by the events that just occurred. His heart fell as he realized he truly didn’t have a chance with John. John liked Eliza, John was straight, he would never like Alexander the way Alexander liked him. He hopped off the chair he had been sitting on, and made his way to the registers. “Looks like I’m needed over here!” he called over his shoulder awkwardly.

Though no one was actually waiting to check out, Alexander felt as if he couldn’t stand to be near John, that his own crush on the boy was starting to physically hurt him when he found out that John already had feelings for someone else. Even if that someone else wasn’t interested, it still felt like his heart was breaking in two. He hid in the register area for ten minutes before a customer even needed to be checked out. But once one came up, it was like a floodgate opened, and seemingly every customer in the store suddenly needed to be check out right then and there. His register was the only one open at the time, since it was supposed to have been a slow day.

_Obviously not. And John can’t even help me._

He could see John running around, helping an older gentleman build a show. Thankfully no one was buying a lot of stuff, mostly just a few boxes of sparklers, or smoke bombs. Small orders he could handle pretty easily by himself. He really only needed help when orders were large, with lot of different coupons.  Those were confusing, and customers often got frustrated with him, much to his distress. He was counting out change when he felt someone’s eyes on him. He handed the customer his change, as well as his receipt and one of his forms, and wished him a good day. He turned and saw two girls staring at him, as well as his boss.

“Uhhh, hi?” Alexander said, surprised.

“Son, these are two of the Schuyler sisters. I assume you have already met Eliza?” Washington gestured to the two in front of him as he spoke.

“Yes sir, I did. I’m Alexander.” He nodded to the girls.

“I’m Angelica,” The one in a pink top said. “And this is Peggy. You just started here, right?” she leaned over him, analyzing his face closely. Alexander felt intimidated by her stare, but could seem to pull his eyes away from hers. He felt his face heat up from their close proximity. What is with all the beautiful people in here today?

_I’m too bi for all this. Someone save me._

“Ignore her!” Peggy exclaimed as she pushed Angelica away. “She’s just nosey. It’s nice to meet you!” she chirped, as Angelica huffed indignantly, and mumbled something about looking around the store as she stomped away. Alexander liked Peggy immediately. He hoped they could become friends.

Another customer came up to the register, and while he had all little things, there was a lot of it. Alexander felt pressure to impress his boss and one of the daughters of the actual owner of the company, so of course he kept fumbling with the product. Peggy hopped over the register and began bagging for him. He was about to protest, but it was like she had read his mind.

“Nope! It would be totally rude of me to just stand there and not help!” She elbowed his side playfully. “Even though I’m only 17, so technically I’m not supposed to be touching the fireworks.” She whispered to him with a wink. He chuckled, secretly relieved to have the help. Washington then walked over and began placing the bags in the customer’s cart. He struck up some small talk with the customer, who apparently was throwing a surprise party for his niece, and wanted little things to keep the children occupied. Alexander finished the order up and they got the customer on his way.

“Thank you. That got a bit overwhelming.” He rubbed his neck apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, son. Once we get a little busier and we have more people hired, you’ll have a designated bagger to help you out.” Washington explained. Alexander then heard giggling, and saw Maria pulling Eliza by the arm gently towards the exit. Before they got through the door Eliza called out,

“I got her number!” with a big dopey grin. Maria rolled her eyes and laughed, pulling Eliza outside. Alexander smiled, happy for them. Then he remember John’s crush on Eliza, and his mood dampened just a bit. Washington and Peggy were discussing what happened quietly in hushed, excited tones.

“Next order, and it’s a big one!” John shouted as he marched up to the register, pushing a dolly with fireworks stacked higher than his head. The man behind him was pushing another just as tall. A deep rumble of laughter came from the man.

“Young man, are you trying to insult me?” the man says with mock anger.

“Aw, c’mon Mr. Franklin! Stop teasin’ me!” the teen groaned back with a smile on his face.

The man, Mr. Franklin, laughed loudly again. John and Washington helped put the fireworks up on the register counter, while Peggy loaded them back onto another dolly. Alexander scanned as quickly and efficiently as possible. Once everything was scanned and loaded up, Alexander read Mr. Franklin his total, which was sky high. He groaned internally when he realized Franklin planned to pay in cash. Who even carries thousands of dollars on them? At least they were mostly 100 dollar bills, and a few 50s. Alexander laid them out neatly and carefully, counting, then recounting, before marking them with the money pen. He then felt eyes boring into the back of his head. It wasn’t Washington or John, who were both talking with Franklin, and it wasn’t Peggy, who left to find Angelica. He turned his head slightly, and out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted Lee. Lee was pretending to straighten up one of the endcaps, but was obviously watching him. He had been doing that for a while now, watching Alexander whenever he was up at the register. He never said anything, in fact, Alexander had only spoken to him once, on the day he had applied. He found it a bit creepy, but he supposed he was just making sure he didn’t mess up any orders. He waited until there was a break in the conversation, then handed Franklin his change.

“Thank you, my boy!” boomed Franklin, “Say,” he looked to Washington, “are you going to be passing out flyers soon, George? You can always send a few of your boys down to my shop, you’ll get a lot of traffic!” he suggested, waving his hands around largely.

“I think that’s a great idea, Ben. Alex, John. You have about an hour and a half left in your shifts, correct?” Both boys nodded to their boss. “One of you tell Lafayette to come up and man the front desk. I’m sending you two along with a box full of flyers.” Washington commanded, then grabbed a dolly to help Franklin load the fireworks into his van.

“Here.” John tossed his keys to Alexander, who barely caught them. “Go start my car, pick some tunes. I’ll go tell Laf.”

Alexander glared at him with pouted lips. “You shouldn’t throw things at people who are not expecting it.”

The freckled boy smiled, and Alexander felt faint. “Expect the unexpected!” he replied as he walked away.

.   .   .

 

At first, the car ride felt tense and awkward. Though they had considered themselves friends for about a month now, they had never rode in a car together before. John’s grip on the steering wheel was slightly too tight, and from the corner of his eyes, he could see Alexander couldn’t stop biting his lips. For the life of him, John couldn’t think of anything to talk about. He racked his brain for something, _anything_ , to break the tension in the air. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the song that had just started to play on the radio.

_One, two, three, uh!_

_My baby don't mess around_

_Because she loves me so_

_And this I know for sure._

“Oh shit!” he exclaimed. “This is my song!” John cranked the volume and started singing loudly. Alexander laughed, and started dancing. John drummed the steering wheel to the beat, and finally, _finally_ , the atmosphere in the car was normal. As the bridge of the song started, John straightened himself up in the seat.

“Hey alright now!” John sang along. “Alright now fellas. What cooler than bein’ cool?”

“Ice cold!” Alexander shouted.

“I can’t hear ya! I say what’s cooler than bein’ cool?!”

“ICE COLD!”

They cracked up, no long able to keep straight faces and sing. Alexander laughed so hard tears were welling up in his eyes, and John was sure he looked the same. They pulled into Mr. Franklin’s shop’s parking lot as the song was fading out. They looked up at each other at the same time, and held each other’s stare for a few moments. John eyes flickered to Alexander’s lips, which were slightly swollen from him biting them just minutes before. He licked his own, thinking about how nice it would feel to kiss his friend right now. He felt dizzy, and looked back to Alexander’s eyes, and realized that he was looking at _his_ lips. His heart trembled. Is this happening? His breath was gone. Did Alexander want to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss Alexander? He tried pushing himself up, needing to be closer to his friend, when his elbow slipped from the top of the steering wheel and-

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP……!!

Both boys winced as the car’s horn broke whatever spell that seemed to be cast over them. They laughed, embarrassed. John took the keys out of the ignition and motioned for Alexander to exit the car with him.

_Did that actually just happen? No. No way. I had to of been imagining that. Because there is no way Alexander wants to kiss_ me. _You saw the way he had been looking at Maria, then at Eliza. The guy is as straight as they come._

“John!” Alexander called, interrupting his thoughts. “You didn’t tell me it was an _ice cream shop_!” Alexander was practically bouncing up and down, he looked so excited. “Can we get some? Is that okay?” He looked back to him, hope shining in his eyes.

John chuckled at his excitement. Who knew Alexander Hamilton liked ice cream so much? John opened his back seat door to pick up the box of flyers they were supposed to pass out. He hip bumped the door shut and walked over to Alexander.

“Well, I don’t see why not. As long as we get these flyers passed out.” They went into the shop together, relieved to be in the air conditioned building.

“Well hello again boys!” Mr. Franklin smiled mischievously from behind the counter.

“Wait, how did you get here before us? When we left you were still putting the fireworks in your car!” John gaped.

“I have my ways.” He said mysteriously. “Plus, you were sitting in the parking lot for awhile doing who knows what!” Franklin sent them an over exaggerated wink. John thought he might die of embarrassment right then and there. Was he suggesting what he thought he was suggesting? Looking over at the dark haired boy beside him, he could see Alexander was just as embarrassed, his entire face was red.

“Anyway, you two can set up shop under the gazebo outside. I know it’s pretty hot out today, but the shade should be just fine. How about some cones, on the house!” Franklin gestured to all the different ice cream flavors. “Pick whatever you’d like!”

As they looked over the flavors, someone else had entered the shop.

“Hamilton?” The two of them looked over to see who was calling for Alexander. The boy had to be their age, maybe a bit older. He bore a slight resemblance to Hercules, though he stood slightly hunched over, as if he was not very confident in himself.

“James! What are _you_ doing here!” Alexander made his way over to the boy, James, and clapped him on the back. John followed hesitantly.

“I’m picking up some ice cream for my boyfriend. I guess this is the only place that sells the macaroni and cheese flavored kind.” James replied, rolling his eyes.

“Dude, that sounds _really_ gross. Oh! James, this is John, my best friend. John, this is James, I worked with him on a project last semester.”

_He called me his best friend. We’re best friends!_  

James held his hand out, and John took it, shaking his thoughts away, not wanting to appear rude.

“Nice to meet you.” James said politely.

“You too. Oh hey, do you want a flyer? Blue Bellies is having a fireworks shoot towards the end of June at the park. It should be fun!” John reached into the box and held out the flyer.

“Oh cool.” James said as he scanned the paper over. “Maybe Tomas will want to go. Well, I gotta get going. Don’t want this to melt before I can give it to him.” He gestured to the pint of mac and cheese ice cream in his hand.

“See ya Madison!” Alexander waved to the boy as he left. They went back to the counter and ordered. John got a strawberry cone, while Alexander got the chocolate-coconut. They took their cones and the box of flyers out to the gazebo outside, and sat down. The gazebo was huge, it looked as though it could sit nearly twenty adults comfortably. Mr. Franklin was right, the shade it provided was nice, and the slight breeze helped as well. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, the quiet only being broken when someone came out to the gazebo, and one of them offered a flyer.

“So, uhh,” Alexander started. “What up with Eliza..?” he asked, looking down at his feet.

_Oh god, why do we have to talk about girls?_

“What about her?”  John replied hesitantly.

“Oh, well. It just seems like you two are...close? I guess I just wanted to see if you were okay with what happened earlier.” Alexander rambled, watching his ice cream drip to the ground.

“Of course I’m fine…? Why would I be-Oh! Wait, do you think I have feelings for her?”

“John. It’s okay that you like her. It’s obvious, the way you looked at her. I just want you to know I’m here for you, since ya know, she is interested in someone el-“

“Alex!” John barked. Alexander’s mouth clamped shut, and he immediately look down, blush apparent on his face.

“Alexander. I don’t have a crush on Eliza. I couldn’t have a crush on her.” John forced himself to keep going, scared about how his friend would react, but knew he had to tell him. He couldn’t keep hiding this part of him. “I couldn’t have feelings for any girl, even if I tried.”

Alexander looked back up at him slowly. “What do you mean?” he asked quietly.

John breathed out, closing his eyes for a moment, then looked at Alexander straight on. “I’m gay.” Alexander stared at him, his face not changing whatsoever.

_Oh god. Oh god. Why isn’t he saying anything? He probably hates me, he’s going to leave, and never talk to me again. Why did I tell him? Oh god, oh g-_

“I’m bi!” Alexander suddenly blurted out, sitting up straight.

“Wait, what?” John’s chest filled with hope, and he prayed he heard Alexander right.

“I’m bisexual. I don’t know, you came out, so I came out.” Alexander’s voice was tinged with panic.

“No, no! It’s okay. I just. I didn’t know if I heard you right.” John laughed and put his free hand up to hide his face. “That was so scary. Oh god.”

“Are you okay? What do you mean scary?” Alexander leaned over and pulled John hand away, revealing the tears falling from his eyes, though he was smiling. “John, you’re crying!”

“I’m sorry. I’m just so happy. I’ve had really bad experiences with coming out before. I was afraid…afraid I would lose you. You called me your best friend back there.”

“Oh, John. I would never to that to you, no matter what reason. Whoever is responsible for your bad experiences are assholes, they aren’t shit. Besides, I would be kind of a hypocrite, don’t you think?” Alexander smiled and elbowed him in the ribs. 

“I guess so.” John said as he rubbed his eyes. They smiled at each other, feeling closer than ever. John couldn’t stop the growing hope in his chest, hope that maybe, just maybe, he and Alexander could be something other than friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright alright alright alright alright...! Hey ya by outkast is still my jam tbh.
> 
> I'm so sorry it took me so long to do this update, i've been really busy. I actually work at a fireworks store (which is how i know anything about fireworks lmao) and the season is finally over. The weeks before the fourth were so hectic, but now it's over! So i have time to write! 
> 
> anyway i'm not totally sure, but i think there will be two more chapters in this fic! i'm thinking of writing a sequel as well, of their time in college! Tell me what you think! I also will probably write some oneshots about the background relationships (like maria/eliza and herc/laf) 
> 
> come yell with me about hamilton on tumblr!! realityrewind is my url
> 
> until next time!!!


	5. Helpless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Alexander's feelings for each other come to a head with the help of their friends.

“Burr, you motherfucker, come bag for me!” John called over Alexander’s head.

Burr grumbled and walked over to the second register, where John was cashier for the day. Alexander himself was on register three, and Lee was on four. They now had enough business in a day to have three registers open, but not busy enough to have more than one bagger. Aaron Burr had just started a few days ago, and hadn’t been trained on anything, which is how he got stuck with bagging for everyone. It seemed as though everyone knew him already, or at least his group of friends did, by the way they constantly teased him.

After John finished the order he was doing, there was a break in customers needing to be checked out. He hopped over his register counter and threw himself on top of Alexander’s. He sighed dramatically and looked up.

“Alex….!” He whined. “I’m so fucking bored,” he weakly pawed at Alexander’s chest.

 _I swear to god, I don’t deserve this. He’s too cute, I’m gonna die_. Alexander swallowed, hoping John didn’t notice how flustered he felt.

 Ever since they had both came out to each other two weeks before at the ice cream shop, they’ve gotten so much closer. It was like a wall had been broken, and it seemed as though John was much more comfortable around Alexander. On one hand, it was great. He and John hung out almost every day before or after work. It was so _nice_ to have someone to be around after being friendless nearly his entire life. To just have someone to talk to, that doesn’t get tired of being around him. Someone that understands him, and smiles even when he messes something up. On the other hand, it was like _torture_. Having a crush on your best friend is so much more painful than having a crush on just anyone, plus John has gotten more and more affectionate with each passing day. He now hugged him whenever they met up, and whenever they parted. He was constantly poking him, patting his hands, and booping him on the nose, for whatever reason. It was driving Alexander up the wall. He was just so _frustrated._ He just wanted to kiss him. He wanted to count every freckle on his friend’s face, to brush his hair, to cuddle with him while they fell asleep. He also wanted to do things that weren’t so PG, but Alexander forbade himself to have those thoughts at work, especially when John was right in front of him. 

“Hellooo..! Earth to Alexander!” John had sat up, and was looking at him with a slightly amused, though mostly concerned, expression.

“Huh?” Alexander murmured, trying to bring himself back to the present.

“I said, let’s go to the warehouse! We can get away from _him._ ” He reiterated, nodding his head slightly at Lee, who was eyeing them with a look of disgust.

They gave each other a knowing look, then the next moment they were running towards the warehouse doors in the back of the store. John whooped, Alexander laughed along, watching his friend run beside him. He nearly ran into not one but two customers, because he could not rip his eyes from John. He was just so beautiful. His hair had started falling out of his scrunchie around his face, which was flushed from running and dodging people. His smile seemed to light up the entire store, and _god_ all those freckles.

“Hey! You can’t just leave me up here by myself! Hey!” Lee screeched after them. John turned around and stuck his tongue out in response.

They were nearly to the doors when John moved in front of Alexander, jogging backwards. He grabbed both of Alexander’s hands and pulled him the rest of the way. Alexander was sure his face was very red, and he hoped his friend assumed it was from running around. They burst through the doors with a small ‘oof!’ from John. They laughed as they spun around and around the warehouse floor, foreheads nearly touching. Alexander loved this. He loved being close to someone, to have someone want to be close to him. He felt kind of guilty for liking it so much. He knew John most likely didn’t feel the same way. John was one of the most attractive people he had ever met, plus he was fun, and passionate, and, and…too good for him. Alexander was so lost in his thoughts he missed the mischievous glint in John’s eyes. He abruptly stopped spinning and pulled Alexander flush against him. Alexander sputtered, not completely sure what was going on. John held him close for a few moments more, his face showing no emotion, besides the slight blush coloring his cheeks. He then broke into a wolfish grin and pushed Alexander backwards. He squeaked, arms flailing.

 _If I’m dying,_ you’re _coming with me!_

He grabbed the freckled boy’s shirt and pulled him down with him. They landed hard on the cardboard pile, John on top of Alex. They was a few beats of silence, John’s face hidden in Alexander’s chest. Alexander’s heart beat picked up, slightly panicked from their current position. When John didn’t move, he grew concerned.

“John..?” he said gingerly, hand hovering over his friend’s head.

His head shot up suddenly, Alexander didn’t have the chance to move his hand, which was now on the side of John’s face.

“I- uh, I’m,” John blabbered, his face bright red, his eyes wide and slightly frightened. He scrambled to move off of Alexander as quickly as he could. “Sorry.” He bit out, sitting on the edge of the cardboard pile.  

“John, what’s wrong?” Alexander crawled as close as he dared, worried he would scare John away. “It’s okay, we were just having fun. I’m not hurt. Are you?”

“It’s not you,” John said, looking up at the boxes stored up high. “It’s me. It’s my fault.” His voice grew smaller and smaller.

Alexander didn’t know what was wrong exactly, but he had a feeling it had to do with John’s past ‘experiences’ he told him about before.

_Wait, does that mean John was flirting with me?_

Before Alexander allowed himself to follow that train of thought, Washington, Laf, and Hercules came through the doors.

“Are you two slacking off?” Washington asked, his tone light and playful.

“N-no, sir!” both boys hopped up quickly, nearly tripping over each other. Their two coworkers giggled at them, whispering to each other quietly.

“Well, we really need you two back at the registers. Lee is getting swamped.” Washington explained.

“Um, sir?” Hercules stepped closer. “Do you think Alex could stay back here? The rest of the warehouse people are restocking the store, I need help with figuring out what we still have back here.”

Alexander sent Herc a confused glance, to which Hercules responded with a wink. All that did was confuse him even more. What was the _real_ reason Herc wanted him back here? It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to spend time with his friend, he was just worried about John. His eyes flitted over to his freckled friend, who was biting his lip nervously.

Washington hummed, thinking about Hercules’ suggestion. “I suppose that’s alright. But if we get too busy up there he will definitely have to come back to the front.”

“No, problem, sir!” Hercules smiled at their boss. Washington returned the smile, as if they were exchanging a secret.

_Now what was that about?_

“D'accord! I am glad we have figured that out! Now let’s go, c’mon, mon ami!” Lafayette grabbed John by the wrist and led him away. John took one last look in Alexander’s direction, and gave him a small smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes before going through the doors. Washington followed them out, leaving just Alexander and Hercules. Who gave John the right to be so…dreamy? It wasn’t fair. Alexander just wanted to be a good friend, to not feel guilty about wanting to be with him.

“Alexander.” Hercules’ strong voice brought his attention back to the present. He looked up at his friend, who was climbing up one of the large racks.

“Where are you going?” Alexander asked, rushing over to watch his friend go up higher and higher.

“I have a fort up here. No one else knows about it, so don’t go telling everyone. Now get up here.” He called down to him.

Alexander weighed his options. He could just leave, but he wanted to know what Hercules really wanted to do. But climbing up there wouldn’t be easy for him, he was much shorter and weaker than his friend. With a sigh of determination, Alexander started climbing.

It was alright at first, so he decided to climb faster. His biggest mistake was looking down. He yelped, clutching the bars of the rack tighter. After he took a few moments to catch his breath, he moved up slowly. Once he made it to the top, he saw the boxes had been moved around so that one or two people could fit up there. Cardboard was lining the bottom of the rack, so one could lay down and not feel the bars digging into them. There was also cardboard hanging overtop a few of the nooks and crannies, giving even more privacy. Hercules was sitting against the wall, smiling at Alexander.

“So? You like it?”

“It’s awesome, Herc! You did all this?” Alexander pulled himself all the way up, then cautiously walked over. He had to duck slightly to not hit his head on the ceiling.

“I told you no one else knows about it, so of course I did” Herc patted the ‘floor’ next to him, and Alexander sat down. He leaned against his friend, finding comfort in his warmth.

“So what did you really want me back here for? I know you already know what’s back here, you keep it super organized.” Alexander glanced up at his friend, who was looking down at him fondly.

“Alright, you got me. We, Hamilton, are going to have a serious conversation.” Alexander must have made a face, because Hercules started to laugh. “Oh, c’mon. It won’t be bad, I promise.”

Alexander huffed, causing Hercules to chuckle more. “Fine. What do you wanna talk about?”

A tense quiet came over the two boys for a moment.

“John.” Herc murmured.

“Oh.” Alexander looked down, suddenly engrossed by the bit of ripped cardboard at his feet.

“I know.” Hercules said, carefully laying his hand on Alexander’s shoulder.

“You know what?” Alexander replied, still not meeting his eyes.

“I know that you like him. A lot. Romantically.”

Alexander finally looked up, panic in his face. “How do you know that?!”

“Dude. You’re like, really, _really_ obvious. I’ve known for a while.”

“Oh god,” Alexander groaned, hiding his face in his arms, pulling his knees up to his chest. “Oh god, do you think he knows?” he asked, his voice slightly muffled.

“Ppfft. No. He’s almost as oblivious as you.” Hercules rolled his eyes playfully.

“Hey!” Alexander swatted at his friend.

“I’m just messing with you!” Herc held his hands up in mock defeat. “But seriously,” his usually gruff voice now soft. “I think you should tell him.”

“But what if he hates me? What if he thinks I just got close to him to get into his pants? What if…what if he never wants to talk to me again…?” Alexander feels his throat closing up, and tears welling in his eyes.

“Alex. I promise he wouldn’t stop being your friend, even if he didn’t want that kind of relationship. You two are too close now, and he needs you as much as you need him.”

Alexander pulled at his hair absentmindedly. “I...I know.”

“Tell him. Soon.” He nudged Alexander when he received no response. “C’mon. You two are gross with your pining after each other. It’s embarrassing to watch.” That got a small grin out of Alexander.

“Oh whatever. Like you have room to talk.”

“Wh-What? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Now it was Herc’s turn to feel the heat.

“If _my_ crush on John is obvious, then _your_ crush on Lafayette is _one hundred times_ more obvious!”

“C’mooon, we are supposed to be talking about your problem, not mine!”

“So you admit you have a thing for Laf?” Alexander leans in close, squinting his eyes.

Hercules squirmed under Alexander’s glare. “Jesus, fine! I’m in love with Lafayette. You can’t tell him! You can’t tell anyone.” He deflated, hugging himself tight.

“I won’t. But you should talk to him about it. He loves you too, you know.” Alexander smiled and patted his back. 

“Only if you tell John.” Hercules shifts himself onto his knees, and holds his pinky out to Alexander.

Alexander bit his lip, hesitant for a few moments.

_Fuck it._

He wrapped his pinky around his friend’s. They held it there and look into each other eyes. The air was tense, both realizing the weight of what they were promising. Alexander broke into a grin, and Hercules soon followed suit, both giggling like small children.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna do this!” Alexander yelled breathlessly, standing, a bit unsteady on his feet. Hercules stood as well, though he had to hunch down much more than his friend.

“You’re gonna do it, it’s gonna be great!” Hercules led Alexander back to the side of the rack. “Now get back up to the registers. I’m sure they’ll need you up there by now!”

“Okay, okay!” Alexander began climbing down, with a bit of difficulty. “Remember, you have to hold up your end of the bargain too!”

“I will.”

Alexander finally made it to the floor, and started for the doors.

“Oh, and Alexander?” Hercules called, peering down at him.

Alexander stopped and looked to his friend. “Yeah?”

“If you hurt John, I _will_ come for your ass. He’s been through a lot, but I’m trusting you. Don’t make me regret that.”

All Alexander could do was gulp and nod. Hercules seemed satisfied with his response, and went further back into his fort.

_Holy shit, Hercules can be super scary if he wants to be._

Alexander made it up to the registers, but John was nowhere to be seen. He slid into his register, and called out that he was open. A line of customers immediately came to his register. He was now much better at his job, moving customers along like it was nothing. He only was stopped when he realized he was out of tens.

“Hey, uh, Lee?” Lee turned to him, with an annoyed expression. “I’m out of Mirandas. Could you get me more?” Lee huffed and rolled his eyes.

“I guess so, since everyone is going to _you_ for some reason.” He stalked over to the managers’ office and went in. A few moments later he came back out with a few tens in his hand. “Now move, let me put it in there and take the amount you need.”

Alexander backed out of his register and let Lee do his thing. Once he was finished, Lee walked back to the managers’ office with the money. Alexander went back to his register and got to work once again.

 

.   .   .  

 

“Laf, you don’t have to drag me, I know where the registers are.” John rolled his eyes at the Frenchman.

“Well, we are not going to the registers, _mon ami_.” Laf shot John a wicked smile.

“What? Where are you taking me?” he tried wiggling away, but Lafayette had a stronger grip than he had anticipated. “Mr. Washington! Where are we going?!” he whined.

Washington had been walking beside them quietly. “Outside.”

“Outside.” He repeated flatly. “Why?”

“We wish to talk to you in private.”

“Both of you?!” John struggled more in vain.

“Oui! Do not worry, John. It is not like we are going to hurt you.”

Once they made it outside, they walked to the back of the store, where there was a small picnic table they sometimes ate at when it was not too hot outside. Lafayette dropped John’s wrist, and John draped himself onto the table.

“Okay, you got me out here, what do you want?” hiding his eyes with one of his arms.

“We want to have a serious conversation with you, Son.” Washington sat down next to him, and Lafayette joined him. John peeked out from his arm, obviously a bit interested in what they had to say.

“What.”

“We know.” Lafayette and Washington said at the same time.

John sat up, a confused look on his face. “Know what? Oh, are you talking about the time I ate your food, Laf? It won’t happen again, I’m so-“

“Not that!” Laf interrupted. “But we _will_ talk about that another time.”

“We know how you feel about Alexander.” Washington said blankly.

John nearly fell off the table. “W-what?! No you don’t, I don’t feel anything! Why would you think that?!”

They both just stared at him. And stared. And stared.

“Fine!” John shouted, breaking under their eyes. “I do! I like Alexander!” he put his head in his hands. “He’s so cute. Who even let him be that cute? I love his tired eyes and his nose and _Jesus_ , don’t even get me started on his _hair-“_

“John! Calm down.” Washington put his hand on John’s knee, causing John to jerk back.

“Sorry.” He whispered. Washington smiled understandingly.

“You have to tell him, mon ami.”

“What?” John voice raised yet again. “No way! No!”

“Why not?” Washington inquired.

“I can’t! I just, fuck!” he stood quickly and started walking away. “How is it any of your fucking business anyway?!” he spat at them.

“John…” Lafayette started.

But Washington was the one that acted. In no time at all, he was behind John, enveloping him in a tight hug. John just froze up, unable to do much of anything.

“It’s our business because we are a family. We care about you, not just me and Gilbert, but Hercules too. You’re like-no-you _are_ my son, John.”

Lafayette rushed over and joined the hug. They both noticed that John had started shaking.

“Mon ami?”

John turned around and hugged them both back, now sobbing. He cried and cried, and they let him. He buried his face in Washington’s chest. Lafayette started to cry as well, and Washington himself seemed close to tears.

“We just want you to be happy, John. You’ve gone through so much, you deserve it.” Laf said through his tears.

“I don’t. I don’t deserve…anything. I d-don’t deserve you two.” John mumbled, his sobs less violent.

They continued to just hold on to each other for a few more minutes, until John cleared his throat, and they both let him go hesitantly.

“Alright, we better head back inside. It’s probably chaos without us in there.” John said quietly.

They walked in silence until they got to the front door.

“I’ll think about what you two said.” He murmured before walking in.

The store was fine, despite what John had thought. Business was dying down, since everyone was headed to the fireworks show they were putting on tonight. Even though they had just had that bonding moment, John had the feeling he would be sent down there for whatever reason Washington had this year.

Alexander hadn’t noticed him coming back into the store. No one was waiting to check out, so he had his little notebook out and was scribbling furiously in it. He was completely lost in his writing, his eyes were concentrated on the page in front of him, his lips pursed. His hair had started to fall out of the messy bun at the back of his head. And _god,_ he was gorgeous. From the strong slope of his nose, to his soft belly, John liked every part of his best friend.

_Best friend, John. Exactly. Stop thinking of him like this._

But he couldn’t stop himself. He knew, ever since that day at the ice cream shop, he was in too deep. He was falling for the dark haired boy, hard. He thought about what Lafayette and Washington said. He felt a strong wave of fondness for them grow in his chest. They _cared_ about him, they wanted him to be happy. Still, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to ruin what he had with Alexander. A best friend. Someone who is fun to be around, to talk to, to just _be_ with.

_But if he likes you back…_

John shook his head. He just couldn’t risk losing him.

Alexander happened to glance up and finally noticed him.

“John! Where did you go?” Alexander motioned for John to join him at his register. John happily obliged.

“I just went outside for a bit. What about you? How was inventory with Herc?”

“Oh, uhh.” Alexander stuttered. “It was um, fine. Good. All sorted out!” he finally got out, his face started to turn…red?

_Why is he blushing while thinking about Herc? Unless…no._

Suddenly memories of Alexander asking about Hercules and Lafayette came to his mind. Of Alexander knowing Hercules before working there. Oh god, does Alexander have a thing for Hercules?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Alexander questioned.

“It’s nothing. I think I forgot something outsi-“

“Alright, Blue Bellies employees!” Washington walked onto the floor, his booming voice commanding the attention of everyone, even the customers. “I’ll be needing a few of you to go down to the shoot to pass out these,” He held up a box of what looked to be glow sticks. “And coupons. Any volunteers?” When no one spoke up, Washington sighed. “Fine, I’ll pick. Let’s see…Burr. You’re on coupons.” Burr nodded silently. “Alexander, you’re on glow sticks.”

“Yes, sir!” he replied.

“Okay, Revere, isn’t it? You’re on coupons with Burr.” Revere threw him a thumbs up. “Now…hmmm…”

_Don’t pick me, don’t pick me, don’t pick me…_

“John. You go with Alexander on glow stick duty.” He ordered, winking at John.

_Let me just die right here, please god._

“Dude, we get to go together!” Alexander smiled brightly at John, whose chest felt tighter than normal. When John didn’t smile back, the long haired boy recoiled slightly. John felt guilty for hurting his friend’s feelings, but he needed to distance himself. He had to get over his _own_ feelings, now that he knew Alexander liked Hercules. Not that that was going anywhere either. Hercules was head over heels in love with Laf. Alexander _knew_ that.

But that didn’t stop the ache from growing deep inside of John.

 

.   .   .

 

Alexander drove them to the park where the shoot was being held. It was only a five minute ride, and it wasn’t as horrible as John thought it would be. They were quiet, the radio playing some indie pop song softly. Alexander found a parking spot, though it was far back, since a lot of people were there to see the show.

They walked to where most of the people had gathered. It was a nice open area, close enough to see the fireworks pretty well, yet still far back enough where they would be safe in case anything bad were to happen.

Once they called out, saying they had free glow sticks, they were immediately surrounded by a sea of small children.

“Woah!” John said, holding the box above his head. “There is enough for everyone, please! Stand back!” The children did what they were told, surprisingly, so John lowered the box. Children came up, one by one, and took whatever color they wanted.

“Just one each please.” Alexander told them. Once every child, and a few teenagers, got a glow stick, John closed the box and had already started to turn away when he heard a small cry next to his feet. He looked down to see a little girl, big tears dripping from her eyes. She looked to be about 4 or 5 years old, and completely lost. John’s heart broke, thinking of his own siblings. He crouched down to eye level with the girl.

“Sweetie? Are you okay?” he asked her softly. She sniffled, rubbing her eyes hard with her tiny fists.

“I can’t find my mommies. I don’t know where they went…” her voice was small, and she sounded so heartbroken. “I’m scared.” She whispered. John stood up and held out his hand to the girl.

“We’ll help you find your mommies. C’mon.”

She took his hand, holding it as tight as she could.

“What’s your name?” she asked him.

“I’m John,” he replied with a smile. “And this is Alexander.” He pointed to the dark haired boy next to him, who had been quiet since they got to the park.

“I’m Claudia! Are you two kissing friends?” she looked up at them with her big eyes.

“N-no, Claudia. We aren’t…kissing friends.” He managed to stammer out. “What are your mommies’ names?”

“Umm, mamá and ma.”

“Do you know their _other_ names? What does everyone else call them?” John asked patiently. Alexander continued to watch them in silence. They had been walking around the place for a few minutes now, and they were on the end of where the clearing ended and the dense woods began.

“Oh! Nina and Vanessa!”

“Claudia?!” a panicked voice came from the trees. Suddenly a woman appeared from out of the woods, eyes wide.

“Mamá!” Claudia let go of John’s hand and ran to the woman. A second later another woman immerged. Claudia ran to her and hugged her legs as well.

“Don’t run from us again!” the first woman scolded.

“But Mamá, John and Alexander helped me find you!” Claudia turned and pointed at them. “I thought they were kissing friends, but they said they weren’t.” She whispered loudly. Her mom smiled down at her, and all three walked over to them.

“Thank you for helping Claudia. I’m Nina,” She said, holding her hand out for John to shake. He took it, then shook then other woman’s hand.

“And I’m Vanessa. You didn’t hurt her, did you?” she asked suspiciously.

“No, no! Of course not!” he waved his hands in front of him.

They both shook Alexander’s hand as well. “Well, you can never really know these days.” He said. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Nina replied. “Enjoy the fireworks, boys!” she called as they started walking away.

“Oh!” Alexander rummaged through the glow stick box, pulling out a large purple one. He ran over and handed it to Claudia. She eyes grew comically wide, and she hugged Alexander’s leg in appreciation. He laughed and patted her head. Once she let go he waved and walked back over to John.

“That was nice of you.” John smiled.

“You’re great with kids!” Alexander exclaimed. “You knew just what to do. I could only stand there like a _cabrón._ ”

“You did fine,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “C’mon. Since we’re out here, we might as well watch the fireworks. I know a better place to see them.” He led Alexander into the woods.

_What am I doing? I’m supposed to be distancing myself, not finding some secluded area to be with him alone!_

They walked, and walked, and walked, until they finally started going uphill. “We should be there soon!” John called back to Alexander, who nodded in response, looking a little dazed.

They hiked a few minutes more until they found the spot John was looking for. “Alright, it’s just passed these trees. Aaaand, we’re here! What do you think?” the woods opened to a small clearing on top of a large hill. It had a perfect view of where the fireworks would be set off, as well as the city beyond the park, and the stars above them.

“It’s beautiful,” Alexander said breathlessly. He moved to the middle of the clearing and sat down with the box at his side. There was still a lot of left over glow sticks, all blue, and Alexander spread them out around where he was sitting, creating an unearthly glow. It made him look amazing, even more attractive then he already was. John swallowed the lump in his throat and sat down next to him.

They sat in tense silence for a few minutes, John growing more and more uncomfortable by the second. He kept his eyes fixed on the ground, pleading for the fireworks to start already.

Alexander finally broke the silence with a “So…”

“So…?” John repeated as a question.

Alexander let out a large sigh, and turned to him. “I have something that I really need to talk to you about.”

 _Oh no, he’s going to tell me about his crush on Herc. What do I say? Will I be able to control my face when he_ completely _shatters my heart?_

“Go for it,” John whispered.

“Okay.” He started, and John tensed up, preparing for the worst. “I’ve. I’ve never really done this before, bear with me. I feel like I just need to get this off my chest, I need to tell you. You’re my best friend. You _deserve_ to know.”

That last part tore a hole in his heart, John recalling his conversation from earlier. He didn’t want to deserve this. He couldn’t keep eye contact with Alexander, he couldn’t risk him seeing the heartbreak in his eyes.

“I, I have these feelings. And at first, I tried pushing them away. _God_ , I tried. But they kept growing, bigger and bigger, and stronger every day. These feelings are always there now, clouding my thoughts. And I can’t go one more day without saying _something”_ Alexander wasn’t looking at him anymore, his eyes were all over the place, lost in the story he was telling, his arms gesturing wide.

John felt the tears burning his eyes, but he would not let them go. He would not cry. Not now. He grabbed fistfuls of grass as hard as he could, as if that could keep him grounded, as if it could keep him from falling apart.

“John, I,”

_Here it comes._

“I really, really..”

_Brace yourself, Laurens._

With one last breath, Alexander pushed out the rest of his confession, “like you.”

_Wait, what?_

John’s world had turned upside down.

“What did you say?” he managed to choke out.

“I said that I really, really like you, John. Do you…do you feel anything for me?” Alexander’s brown eyes meeting John’s hazel ones, and John, John was speechless.

Then he started to laugh.

He laughed and laughed and laughed, once he started he couldn’t stop. He was just so _relieved._

Alexander, of course, didn’t know John was relieved.

“Well, fine!” Alexander spat out. “I pour my fucking heart out to you, and I get this?! Laughed at right to the face?!” he moved to stand, when John grabbed his wrist. “What!?”

That’s when Alexander noticed John’s tear stained face.

“Alexander!” John voice was thick from crying and laughing. “No, no! it’s not like that. I thought, I thought” John stammered though his chuckles. “I thought you were about to tell me you had a crush on Hercules! I thought you were about to rip out my heart and stomp it into the ground!”

“…What?” Alexander plopped back onto the grass, now laughing himself. “You thought I had a crush on _Herc_? I mean, don’t get me wrong, Herc is _hot_ and _super_ nice,” John slapped his arm. “Hey! Okay, I deserved that. But _God_ ,” he paused to look at John right in the face. “How could I like anyone else with _you_ around?”

John blushed, he blushed hard. _Alexander_ , his _crush_ , the boy he had been pining over for _months now_ , was telling him everything he wanted to hear. His head was spinning. “Alexander, I like you too. Like, a lot. Too much.”

“Too much?” Alexander said softly, brushing his fingertips along John’s jawline.

“So much it _hurts.”_

“Well then,” he whispered. “I’ll just have to kiss it and make it better.”

He leaned in close, their lips so close they could feel each other breaths. John’s heart felt as though it would explode at any moment.

Their lips met just as the first firework burst in the sky.

It wasn’t perfect. Their angle was a bit off, and they bumped noses. But it was so _good_ because it was Alexander. John’s lips felt as if there was electricity running through them. He pushed Alexander down and leaned over him. They kissed again, and again, over and over and over until they finally got the perfect meeting of their lips. Their mouths fitting to each other’s as if they were made for this specific moment in time. They laughed into each other’s mouths, and john felt happy, his heart full and his head overflowing with love for the boy under him.

They moved to lay on their sides, holding each other’s hands loosely. John looked into Alexander’s eyes, seeing only affection and caring, and the reflection of the fireworks blooming across the night sky.

“This is perfect,” John said.

“You’re perfect.” Alexander rubbed his nose against John’s sweetly.

“Perfect for you.”

 

.   .   .

 

The hazy afternoon sun filtered through Alexander’s blinds, stirring him from his slumber. He went to turn over when he realized, someone was sleeping with him, their head on his chest and arms wrapped around his torso.

_Not just someone. John._

After the fireworks, he and John walked hand in hand back to his car. They had stopped at McDonalds for a quick bit to eat, then headed to Alexander’s apartment, not wanting their friends to know about them just yet. They took separate showers- John had to borrow some of Alexander’s pajamas, which hardly fit- then they crawled into bed together.

“Can you just, hold me?” John asked nervously.

“Of course.”

They found a comfortable cuddling position, and laid in silence.

“John?”

John mumbled in reply.

“Does this mean we’re kissing friends now?”

John kicked Alexander playfully, then they both fell asleep.

_John Laurens likes me back. John Laurens is my...boyfriend?_

It wasn’t something they had clarified last night, but Alexander was _pretty_ sure they were now dating. He couldn’t stop smiling. He looked over and saw his phone was lighting up, signifying he had some sort of notification waiting for him. He grabbed his phone, and the smiled dropped, transforming into a look of complete panic. He had _ten_ missed calls from work, one from Hercules, and three from Lafayette. He had forgotten to turn his phone back on vibrate after getting out of work last night. He had dozens of text messages, but only one stood out. It was from someone who _never_ texts. It was from Washington.

**From: G-Wash**

You had better get here as soon as you get this message. This better not be what it looks like, because I do not want to believe that you would be embezzling money from my store, Alexander.

_What?!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoo, they are finally together!! thank god. and what is with that ending? B) 
> 
> did you guys like nina and vanessa's appearance? i like the idea of them getting together and adopting a baby, and naming her after abuela claudia !! i also just really love in the heights haha
> 
> i hope ya'll like this chapter, i worked really hard on it. it's also the longest chapter i've written so far! there is one chapter left after this one, so my story is coming to a close. thank you to everyone who kept up with it, and supporting me! 
> 
> come and talk to me over on tumblr! my url is realityrewind!  
> i don't blog about hamilton that much anymore, since voltron has basically taken over my life, but i still love it dearly, and i woud love to yell about it with ya'll, and talk about my fic!


	6. Our Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander faces Washington to try to plead his case. Also Lee is kind of a terrible person, and Lafayette is very protective.

Panic was not the word Alexander was looking for. On the verge of a huge meltdown was more like it. He didn’t know what to do. Should he text back, try to explain over the phone? No, this wasn’t something that could just be explained away. He would have to go in person, beg Washington to believe him, that he would never steal from him, the first person who was willing to give him a chance in a long time. But what could he say? The numbers can’t be wrong. Someone had to be stealing from the store. But who? It wasn’t him, and it definitely wasn’t John. Complete terror gripped his heart as he shot out of bed, knocking over his wobbly nightstand with his movements. He watched it crash to the floor in slow motion, and continued to stare at it after, as if he was suddenly stopped by some unknown force.

_What’s the point? I’m going to go to work, and I’ll try to tell them I didn’t steal anything, but of course they won’t believe me. Who would believe some kid who isn’t even from this country? They’ll fire me, they’ll press charges, I’ll go to jail. I can’t survive prison! Oh god, what am I going to d-_

“Alexander?” John’s voice, thick with sleep, jarred him from his thoughts. He was holding himself up on his elbow, the blanket pooling at his waist. A shot of affection hit Alexander right through his gut, followed by the dread of realization. Would John believe him? Or would he lose him after one night?

“John!” he jumped to straighten himself up, scratching the back of his head. “Ah-uh. Good morning!” his voice cracked with the last word, causing him to wince.

John pulled himself into a sitting position, pulling the blankets around him tightly. He stared at his lap seeming to be mulling something over. He looked up at Alexander hesitantly, anxiety and hurt plain on his face. His eyes were searching Alexander’s, for what, Alexander did not know. After a few moments of silence, he looked away and started climbing out of the bed.

“I’ll just, um. Grab my stuff and go. Sorry…” John mumbled as he walked quickly past Alexander, picking up his shirt and wallet from the floor.

“What? John, no!” Alexander grabbed John’s upper arm, causing the boy to freeze. John was facing away from him, so he couldn’t gauge his reaction. “I-I mean…I thought…” Alexander swallowed. “If you don’t want to stay, I can’t make you. But…I thought you wanted to be with me. If you didn’t want to, you shouldn’t have said so yesterday,” his voice broke with his final word, arm dropping, stepping back a few paces.

The seconds ticked by between them, Alexander refusing to look up to see John leaving him. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself not to cry. John was leaving him, and he doesn’t even know about what happened with the store. He’s just leaving because he regretted what happened between them. He regretted being with Alexander, simply because he was _Alexander_ , and he finally figured out that Alexander wasn’t worth being with. He wasn’t worth anything.

That’s when he heard a loud thump in front of him.

He peeked through his eyelashes and saw John was sitting on the floor, still facing away from him. And he was…shaking? His face was buried in his hands, and yes, his shoulders were shaking slightly. Concern for the freckled boy overrode his feelings of rejection, so he lowered himself on his hands and knees and crawled over to John hesitantly.

Alexander was now by John’s side, and he could hear John’s strained breathing. He was curled tightly in on himself, rocking back and forth.

“John…?” Alexander whispered softly, moving to sit on his knees in front of him. He placed his hand on John’s forearm carefully. John whimpered. “I’m not going to hurt you, John. I’m sorry I grabbed you earlier.” Alexander tried to keep his voice quiet and even, hoping it would help calm John down.

John became more pliable, and let Alexander take his hands from his face into his own. He was still breathing fast and shallowly, his eyes closed, though he stopped rocking. Alexander rubbed circles into the backs of John’s hands.  

“It’s okay, you are okay. You can get through this, John. Will you count with me?” Alexander counted in French, just as his mother taught him when he would get worked up as a child. He did this a few times before John joined in, his voice raspy. They did this over and over, until John was not shaking anymore. Until John was breathing normally. They stopped counting, but Alexander was still holding John’s hands, rubbing his thumb over the other’s affectionately.

“Well that was embarrassing,” John chuckled nervously. He shifted around so he could pull himself closer to Alexander.

“No it wasn’t,” Alexander replied. “It happens. It’s okay.”

“How did you know how to help me? I never told you…” John trailed off, eyes on their joined hands.

“I get them sometimes, panic attacks, I mean. I just did what I would want someone to do for me.” He kissed the top of John’s head softly. John hummed in appreciation.

“I’m still sorry you had to see me like that, though. I just thought, the way you looked at me, I thought that _you_ didn’t want me anymore. Then you grabbed me-I know you didn’t mean to hurt me- but it reminded me of what happened with…with _him_ ,” John shuttered.

“Him?” When John didn’t speak after a few moments he added, “You don’t have to tell me.”

“His name was George King _the third,”_ John spit out. “He was the son of one of my father’s work friends,” he paused with a small sigh. “He was the first boy to ever give me attention. The first boy that felt the same way about me…” He nuzzled into Alexander’s chest, obviously needing support.

And Alexander was more than willing to give it to him.

_This George…what did he do to you?_

“Except now that I think about it, maybe he never really had feelings for me. Maybe he just liked controlling me.” John laughed humorlessly. “He wanted to do things I wasn’t comfortable with doing. I was seventeen, he was nearly twenty, how was I supposed to know he would fuck me up so badly?”

_Oh._

“I didn’t want to do things with him, I wasn’t ready. I tried leaving him so many times, but every time I worked up the nerve to break up with him, I couldn’t-he wouldn’t let me. He threatened to out me to my father. I was scared. My father…I didn’t want him to find out. He did end up finding out, but not until after it was over between me and George. That’s a whole other story though. I guess George was done toying with me, I found him with another guy. The way he yelled at me, the things he said to me, you would have thought I was the one who cheated.” Stray tears leaked from his eyes as he finished his story.

“Oh, John,” Alexander pulled his boyfriend into his arms. “John, John. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Fuck that guy and his shitty rich person name.” John snorted at that. “And if you ever want to talk about that other story…well, you know I’m here for you. Always.” He pulled out of the embrace to look into John’s eyes. Eyes full of hesitant affection. Alexander’s heart broke. No one should’ve had to go through what John did.

_If I ever meet George, I’m going to deck him._

They cuddled soundlessly for a few more minutes, but were then interrupted by Alexander’s cell phone vibrating from across the room.

         

.   .   .  

 

“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?! I wasted so much time!” John yelled as Alexander drove them to Blue Bellies.

“I wasn’t just going to leave you! You needed me!” he shouted back, cursing under his breath as he caught the fourth red light in a row.

He had explained what had happened as well as the allegations made against him after he got another slew of texts from Lafayette. They rushed to make themselves presentable, and ran to the car. Alexander was relieved when John didn’t question his innocence at all.

“But _you_ need me now! We’re going to face this together.” John placed his hand on Alexander’s thigh. “I know exactly who’s trying to frame you.” His fingers tightened just slightly, and Alexander realized what John was saying.

John was saying it was Charles Lee.

.   .   .

John walked into Blue Bellies with his boyfriend at his side, hand in hand. He had to force himself not to get giddy at the thought of Alexander being his boyfriend; it definitely wasn’t the time for it. The store was dead silent. There was no music playing over the speakers like usual. While there were customers in the store, they stood stoic, as if they also knew what had happened. Any maybe they did.

Lafayette and Hercules peeked out from aisle three, wide eyed, lips pulled tightly together. Herc motioned for them to follow, so they crossed the floor as quickly and quietly as they could.

“Where the hell have you been?!” Hercules whispered, voice full of concern.

“Well, we weren’t expecting to come into work today!” John hissed back. Alexander tightened his grip on his hand. “Where’s Washington?”

“He and Lee are in the managers’ office. They’ve been locked in there all morning! What’s going on?” Lafayette looked as if he was on the verge of panicking.

“Wait – just explained everything that happened here, then we will explain what we know,” Alexander interjected. Hercules nodded decisively.

“Okay. So me and Laf got here like normal, and we saw that John’s car was here, so we thought that somehow you beat us here. I guess that’s not important until later. So anyway, we get inside and Lee is talking with Washington in the front. But it looks really serious, like, Lee was all worked up and nervous and Washington had this super scary expression. When they saw us walk in they just abruptly stopped their conversation. Then Washington turned to us and said, “watch the store” and walked into his office with Lee. But as they were about to shut the door Laf heard Alexander’s name,”

“So of course we got worried!” Lafayette interrupted. “We thought something had happened to you two last night at the shoot. I mean, we didn’t hear you come home, John. So we ran around the whole store looking for you, but you weren’t here! So we called and texted you but you didn’t answer your phone! Why didn’t you answer your phone, mon ami?!” Laf’s voice was rising and getting a bit high pitched. 

“Shhh!” John put his finger to his lips. “I left my phone in my car, I’m sorry. I, uh- went over to Alexander’s apartment.”

Hercules and Lafayette’s eyes trailed down and stopped at John and Alexander’s intertwined hands at the same time. If the situation hadn’t been so tense, John would have laughed at their faces. They turned to look at each other, smiles breaking out.

“I’m happy for you two, il vous a fallu assez longtemps!” Lafayette giggled.

John noticed Alexander and Hercules share a look, though he wasn’t sure why. He’d have to remember to ask later.

“I’m happy for you too, but we should get back to the current problem. What do you two know?” Hercules asked.

Alexander pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocked it and handed it over to Herc. He read Washington’s message, as did Lafayette, peering at the phone over Herc’s wide shoulders. Both their eyes grow comically wide.

“Whaaaaat,” Lafayette drawled out as Hercules handed the phone back to Alexander wordlessly.

 “Yeah. _Obviously_ Alexander didn’t steal any money,” John said pointedly, as if challenging either of them to say otherwise. “ _So_ , someone had to of framed him. Place your bets as to who that benefits.”

The managers’ office door swung open moments after the words left his mouth. Lee stepped out first, appearing triumphant with his crooked grin. The four of them stepped out of the aisle onto the open floor, now in plain sight. John met lee’s heavy gaze with his own, fiery and ready for anything. He tore away from his eyes as Washington came into view.

Now, Washington was always an intimidating man. He was tall and broad-shouldered, almost always wearing a stern expression. Anyone looking at him just knew, _he_ was the man in charge.  But this Washington was one he had never seen before. This Washington’s shoulders were sagged, his frown lines looked more prominent than ever, and he looked absolutely _torn._ There seemed to be a war going on inside of him, and John wasn’t sure which side was winning.

“Alexander,” Washington said evenly. “You have a lot of explaining to do, but first-“

“Sir! You must know that I would _never_ steal from you, from your store! I-“

“Enough!” everyone winced, John had stepped closer to Alexander, whether to protect his boyfriend or comfort himself, he wasn’t sure.

Washington sighed as he rubbed his temples. He made his way closer to the group, leaning against the third register counter.

“This is what I know,” he started again. “Lee was working on the books last night, and noticed we have come up short multiple times over the past month. And looking further into this, he noticed a pattern. Every time we came up short, it was from Alexander’s register.”

Alexander stiffened next to him. He looked at the dark haired boy, noticing him biting his lip. He was scared.

“How do you know Lee isn’t lying?” John gritted his teeth, glaring at the man in question.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Lee sneered. “It’s not my fault your boyfriend is a thief and a scoundrel.”

To everyone’s surprise, Lafayette was the first to respond, so angry he couldn’t translate to English faster than the words spewing from his lips. “How dare you! juste attends jusqu'à je me prend mes mains sur vous, vous enculé!”

This triggered a shouting match between the four of them and Lee. Washington tried to interject many times, to no avail. It was chaos, no one really hearing the other. The customers that were still in the store had fled. John felt the red hot rage building in his chest. He struggled to keep it down, or at least keep it in his words and not his fists. He knew, he just _knew,_ that somehow Lee was framing Alexander. And worse, he was doing it to hurt him. Alexander was just a pawn to Lee. That realization only added fuel to the fire inside him.

“EVERYONE STOP!” Hercules erupted.

Time seemed to hang still as everyone froze, words no longer flinging around the store. Hercules gripped Lafayette around the waist, keeping him from lunging at Lee. Alexander had since let go of John’s hand, his own in tight fists at his sides. Washington stood between the group and Lee, acting as a barrier.  

“Sorry, that was, uh,-“ Hercules stuttered as he let go of Lafayette. He then cleared his throat and continued, “I know how to clear Alexander’s name.”

“How?” came from everyone, in varying tones.

“Okay, so, I might be getting myself in trouble here, but it’s worth it to help Hamilton.” He shot a grin in Alexander’s direction, which, John could tell, Alexander appreciated. “I’ve kind of…set up cameras throughout the store. I know I should have asked you sir, but I just…I wanted to make sure the store was secure. Last year we had a few problems with people stealing products so I thought, better safe than sorry. If you can give me the dates of when we came up short, I can look at the tapes on those days. If Alexander is what you say he is,” Hercules paused to glare at Lee, “Then the tapes will show him pocketing the money. But I have a feeling they won’t.”

“You can’t do that!” Lee screeched, looking red in the face. “That’s an invasion of privacy! You didn’t tell anyone about these cameras, this is a lawsuit waiting to happen!”

Washington raised is hand to silence the short man. “While I am disappointed that you did not ask me about installing cameras in the store, Hercules, I think it is a good idea.” He quickly made his way to the front door and flipped the open sign to closed. He gestured for his workers to follow him into the managers’ office.

The office was fairly large, with one big desk, equipped with an out of date desktop computer, and a cushioned swivel chair. A couch sits against the left wall, and another swivel chair is on the right side of the room. Lafayette, John, and Alexander take the couch, Hercules follows their boss behind the desk, and Lee retreats to the lone swivel chair.

“Don’t worry, this will all get sorted out.” John whispers in Alexander’s ear. Alexander snuggled in John’s side, mumbling about how much he wants to fight ‘that motherfucker in the chair over there’. John was trying not to look at the man across from them, the man trying to ruin both of their lives. Meanwhile Lafayette was on Alexander’s opposite side, hand resting on his shoulder. His eyes were boring into Lee’s skull. John knew Lafayette was very protective of his friends, but seeing him act this way was slightly off-putting. Though overall he was glad he cared for Alexander so much.

It took awhile, but eventually Hercules and Washington found the correct times with the correct cameras. Hercules had hooked up the camera tapes to play on the monitor, and the room was silent as they reviewed the tapes with a close eye. Minutes ticked by, and John felt more and more nervous. What if Hercules _couldn’t_ prove it wasn’t Alexander? What would happen?

“This is stupid,” Lee muttered out. “I don’t need to sit through this! I’m leavi-“

“Look!” everyone’s heads whipped around to Hercules. Nearly tripping over each other, they gathered around the monitor, all except Lee.

Hercules switched between video after video, each showing none other than Charles Lee at the register where Alexander was supposed to be.

“See? During this one, Alexander was sitting with John at the front desk. And this one he was in the back with Laf and me. I couldn’t find where he was in this first one though…”

“Look at the date and time! That was the day me and John went to Franklin’s.”

John grinned at his boyfriend as he squeezed his hand. Everything was coming together. Lee was shown multiple times logging into the register with Alexander’s sign in, and pocketing money from the drawer.

There was a flurry of motion, Lafayette had hurled himself over the desk. Lee let out a strangled gasp as he was lifted by the front of his shirt into the air.

“I’ve put up with you long enough.” Laf growled as he stalked into the showroom, Lee in tow. “You have made my John’s life hell for the past year. Poking at him to get him mad, threatening to get him fired. But you could not stop there, could you? No, you had to hurt Alexander was well. Well no more!” he threw Lee to the ground. “vous avez merdé pour la fois dernière, _mon ami_. Je ne tolère pas vous de jouer avec nos vies.” He crouched over Lee’s terrified face. “ _je vous déchirer._ ”

 “Lafayette, stop!” John rushed over and pulled his friend away from the man. He looked into the frenchman’s eyes with fear. Lafayette’s eyes widened, then he immediately slumped into John’s arms.

“I’m sorry if I scared you, mon ami.” He said softly.

“It’s okay, Laf.”

Hercules jogged over to retrieve Lafayette, who went to him without a complaint.

Alexander stood with them off to the side, and it was as though it was just John and Lee.

“Why do you hate me, Lee?”

“Fuck you,” Lee spit out from the floor. “Ever since you started working here, everyone just _flocked_ to you. ‘Oh _, John_ , you’re _so_ helpful. Oh, _John_ , you’re our new friend, we just _love_ you. You’re the best worker I’ve ever hired, _son_.’ It makes me sick to watch. _You_ make me sick.”

John was taken aback.

“You’re jealous of me,” John breathed out, astonished. “You’re fucking jealous of me.” He laughed humorlessly, pressing the palm of his hand to his forehead. “You don’t know shit about me or my life, Lee. I try _so fucking hard_ to look like everything is easy for me, but it’s _not._ And you! You’ve gone way too far! You could have gotten Alexander arrested. He could have gone to prison because of you! Would you really let yourself stoop so low because of your petty feelings!?” he leaned over Lee, who was now sitting up, staring at him with open disgust. “Answer me!”

“The only way you know how to deal with your anger is with violence. Just you’re your _father_. So do it, hit me. What do I have to lose?”

They sat this way for what seemed like hours, Lee sitting, and John crouching. John’s breathing was ragged, struggling to compose himself.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” John took a long pause to catch his breath. He then closed his eyes and stood up. “You’re not worth my time, get out of here, before I change my mind.”

Lee scrambled to his feet, his dark bangs falling wildly in his face. “Burn in hell, all of you!” he shouted as he ran to the door. He nearly made it out, but Alexander had somehow appeared right beside him and grabbed his arm.

“Oh, Lee. We hate you too!” he said sweetly, then promptly punched him in the face.

Lee staggered out the door, and ran the rest of the way to his car.

.   .   . 

Washington had decided to give them all the rest of the day off.

“You all deserve it,” was all that he had said, after fixing Alexander an ice pack.

They had all drove in their separate cars to Herc and Laf’s apartment. Once there Hercules went to work in the kitchen, baking chocolate chip cookies and whipping up hot coca for all of them. They situated themselves in the living room, squashed on the couch, but comfortable.

They all thank and compliment Hercules on his baking skills. They chatter on for a while, happy that the business with Lee is finally over. John looked over at Alexander, who was being strangely quiet. He had only eaten half of his cookie, and barely a sip of his cocoa was gone. His mug sat on the coffee table in front of them. His knees where drawn up to his chest, a faraway look in his eyes.

“Are you alright, Alex?” John nudged his shoulder softly. John’s words caught the attention of the other two boys.

“Yeah, I…” Alexander sank farther into the couch. “I guess I’m just…surprised at you guys. You all stood up for me back there. You didn’t even question me for a second.”

“Aw, babe!” John pulled his boyfriend into his lap. Alexander squeaked and hid his face in the crook of John’s neck.

“Of course we didn’t!” Hercules grinned.

“Yeah! We love you, mon petit lion!” Lafayette scooted closer and wrapped the couple in a large hug, Hercules joining a moment after.

When Alexander finally looked up, his face was tinged pink, but he was smiling.

“I’m glad I have you guys,” Alexander confessed sheepishly.

John pecked Alexander on the nose affectionately. “I’m glad we have you to. That I have you.”

 

Epilogue

 

No one had warned Alexander just how bad Fourth of July week truly was. To put it lightly, it was hell on Earth. He worked so many hours of overtime, he was no longer sure what his actual scheduled hours were. He just came in from open to close. The streams of customers seemed endless, and Hercules had to act as a guard at the door, making sure there was never too many people inside. Customers were mean to him, most of his coworkers were grumpy from lack of sleep, and his entire body was sore.

But at least he had John.

John, who, even though incredibly grouchy, would still give him a peck on the lips (or cheek. Or nose. Or forehead.) every chance he could. John, who brought him coffee to his register, even though it was against the rules. John, who would wait to take his break so that they could go to the back at the same time.

John, the boy who he felt he had known much longer than the three months he had worked at Blue Bellies.

John, the boy who he was falling in love with.

Alexander was pulled rather abruptly from his thoughts by yet another customer. This said customer was complaining about the customer service. Apparently no one was around to help them choose what they needed. All Alexander could do was smile and nod, though inside he was thinking they should have came in a week earlier, when they weren’t so fucking busy. As the customer left, Alexander felt a presence next to him.

“Are these the men with which I am to defend America?”

Alexander has also learned that Washington gets really weird during the fourth.

“Sir?” Alexander looked up at his boss, who was looking across the wrecked showroom as if he was on a battlefield. Alexander supposed he was, kind of.

“You can take your break now,” he smiled down at him. “John is waiting for you.”

He nodded and quickly signed out of his register. He gave Washington a big thumbs up and jogged to the breakroom.

John was leaning against the refrigerator, breaking out in a toothy grin as Alexander bounded toward him.

“baaaabe,” Alexander groaned out, laying his head on his boyfriend’s chest. “I missed you.”

“Alexander, you just saw me this morning.” He replied playfully, placing small kisses all over the top of his head.

“That’s too long!” he whined. “I want to be this close to you all the time.” He breathed in John’s scent.

“I love how clingy you are, fuck.” John lifted Alexander’s face and pulled him into a searing kiss. He melted in John’s strong arms. His knees felt week, as if they might give out at any moment.

_John is such a good kisser, it almost isn’t fair._

Someone clearing their throat loudly broke them apart.

“Well at least you two have the decency to look embarrassed.” Aaron Burr was standing in front of them, a slightly amused-but-mostly-exhausted look on his face. “Could you move? I’d like to get my food out of the fridge.”

They scooted out of the way awkwardly, shared an abashed look, and laughed together. John took ahold of Alexander’s hands, suddenly appearing a bit sheepish.

“We could maybe…continue that later?” John met Alexander’s eyes.

“Definitely.”

They spent the rest of their break sharing food and sitting together in the warehouse.

Alexander studied John’s face. The slope of his nose, the freckles splayed across his cheeks. His curly hair, and how he gets small dimples when he laughs. Every time he caught John’s beautiful hazel eyes, he felt as if he was drowning.

Alexander had never been in love before, but he thinks this is what it feels like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the last chapter of my fic. boy, it's been a wild ride. thank you to everyone who has stuck around to read it! it's a bittersweet feeling finishing this story, i'm going to miss this au. well, i most likely will be writing a few oneshots in this universe, so i'm not leaving it completely. i haven't written Hercules and Lafayette's story yet. 
> 
> there was a lot of french in this one, here are the rough translations!  
> il vous a fallu assez longtemps  
> \- it took you long enough  
> juste attends jusqu'à je me prend mes mains sur vous, vous enculé!”  
> \- Just wait until I get my hands on you, you motherfucker!  
> vous avez merdé pour la fois dernière, mon ami. Je ne tolère pas vous de jouer avec nos vies.” He crouched over Lee’s terrified face. “je vous déchirer.”  
> \- You have screwed up for the last time, my friend. I won’t put up with you messing with our lives any longer.  
> \- I’m gonna tear you to shreds. 
> 
> alright goodbye for now! i hope you enjoyed my story. if you want, find me on tumblr, my url is realityrewind !


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